US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Saturday said that America's efforts to strengthen its relationship with Pakistan will not come at the expense of its "good" partnership with India and pointed out that Washington had a long history of partnering with Islamabad on counterterrorism.
Responding to a reporter during a press briefing over the turning point in US and Pakistan ties, Rubio said that the US would like to expand the relationship beyond that, if possible, and understood that there would be some difficulties and some challenges.
Reporter asked, "I wanted to ask you about the relationship with Pakistan. It seems like it’s been so strengthened this year. Was that based on their recognition of the US role and the President’s role in resolving and in avoiding potential war between India and Pakistan?"
Replying to the question, US state secretary said, " No, I think they appreciated – anytime you work with someone, you get to know them and you interact with them, and so I do think there was some sense of happiness about it. But even before that conflict had started, I had already reached out to them and said look, we are interested in rebuilding an alliance, a strategic partnership with you. We think there are things we can work together with them on."
"Look, we’re fully aware of the challenges with regards to India and everything else, but our job is to try to create opportunities for partnerships with countries where it’s possible. And we’ve had a long history of partnering with Pakistan on counterterror and things of that nature. We’d like to expand it beyond that, if possible, and understanding that there’ll be some difficulties and some challenges. But I think it’s a very encouraging thing that that relationship has strengthened the way that it has, and I don’t think it comes at the expenses or instead of a good relationship with India, or anybody else for that matter," he added.
When asked if India raised concerns about US growing ties to Pakistan, Rubio, calling Indians "mature," emphasised that the United States is pursuing a pragmatic foreign policy designed to engage with multiple partners at once.
He said, "They really haven’t – I mean, we know they’re concerned for obvious reasons because of the tensions that have existed between Pakistan and India historically. But, I think they have to understand we have to have relations with a lot of different countries. We see an opportunity to expand our strategic relationship with Pakistan, and I think we’ve made – that’s our job, is to try to figure out how many countries we can find how we can work with on things of common interest."
"So, I think the Indians are very mature when it comes to diplomacy and things of that nature. Look, they have some relationships with countries that we don’t have relationships with. So, it’s part of a mature, pragmatic foreign policy. I don’t think anything we’re doing with Pakistan comes at the expense of our relationship or friendship with India, which is deep, historic, and important," he added.
This question came as US and Pakistan ties are strangely becoming closer. Trump, who once called Pakistan a terrorist safe heaven, has taken a U-turn and is signing deals with the country.
US Strategic Metals (USSM) and the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) in Pakistan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a critical minerals partnership, which includes a $500 million investment agreement.
US also sealed a trade deal with Pakistan as their officials wrapped up talks in Washington, agreeing to develop oil reserves.
On Sunday, Trump again praised Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir as "great people."
Earlier this month, from the Oval Office,
Donald Trump recalled Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif's visit to the US and said, "he said beautifully that the President (Trump) saved millions of lives," referring to the US President's claim of 'stopping' the India-Pakistan conflict in May this year.