PAKISTAN ruled out the possibility of sacrificing its relationship with China for the sake of improved relations with the United States, the Foreign Office said on Thursday, stressing that “Pakistan doesn’t believe in zero-sum relationships”. “For us, relations with the United States and relations with China are both important,” Foreign Office spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad adding “We do not believe in situations where relationship with one country can be sacrificed on the altar of relations with another.”
Pakistan, no doubt, has a longstanding relationship with the United States spanning over decades and a major source of remittances and an important export destination. These factors have helped the country sustain economically and the relationship also served to promote security and defence interests of Pakistan. Despite the transitory nature of this relationship, discriminatory posture, imposition of sanctions and strings attached to the bilateral relationship, Pakistan always wanted to improve and diversify ties with Washington. It is also a matter of record that irrespective of who is in power, Pakistan has all along enjoyed a robust relationship with China that has been a source of strength in diverse fields including political, diplomatic, economic and defence. The United States provided valuable economic and military packages but almost all of them were either issue-specific or had strings attached to them. The United States provided billions of dollars but the common man has so far not felt their impact but the Chinese assistance, which is always without humiliating conditions, has helped ease some of the major challenges especially energy and infrastructure. China is the only country providing civil nuclear technology to Pakistan but the United States is unilaterally extending cooperation to India to the disadvantage of Pakistan. There is no smooth sailing at all times in international relations and policies and reactions are adjusted in view of ground realities and keeping national interests in view. It is because of this that the Foreign Office spokesperson emphasized that Pakistan would like to develop a relationship with China and the United States on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs. This is the best approach as the policy of keeping all eggs in one basket inflicted serious harm to the country in the past.
