Pakistans Foreign Minister since gaining position in April, 2022, has extensively travelled abroad and made over 10 foreign trips, in just eight months. However, with his recent trip (in December) to the US over ten days, Bilawal failed to get an in-person meeting with Blinken and had to settle for a phone conversation.More tangible results need to be seen from the US, in assuring Pakistan that the present recalibration of US-Pakistan ties serve not just US interests but is beneficial to Pakistan also.
On December 14-21, 2022, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari traveled to the United States for an official visit. This trip covered multiple multilateral and bilateral meetings in New York City and Washington, D.C.
During this visit, the US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke by phone with FM Bilawal and discussed various common agenda`s. The Secretary committed US support to Pakistanis as they recover from recent devastating floods. In their respective talks, they both stressed the value of close cooperation and expressed their common desire for the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan to be successful. Reiterating the United States’ continued support for Pakistan in its battle against terrorism, Blinken expressed compassion for the victims in the recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Previously, in May 2022, Bilawal had an hour long meeting with Blinken at the UN headquarters in New York. This was their first face-to-face meeting following their extensive telephone conversation on May 6.They covered the full spectrum of Pakistan-U.S. relations and discussed global and regional situation.
Then, on a 10-day trip in September 2022, Bilawal attended the UNGA summit in New York and spoke with Blinken on the sidelines as part of a renewed effort on both sides to mend their strained ties following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. According to official sources, Bilawal’s visit was intended to explore ways to build a sustainable relationship. There were concerns that the US might not be interested in a long-term relationship and would rather concentrate on specific security and counterterrorism issues.
However, with this his recent trip to New York and Washington DC spanning over ten days, Bilawal failed to get an in-person meeting with Blinken and had to settle for a phone conversation, even though they were in the same capital. Instead he made do with an in-person session with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Wednesday, as he was wrapping up his three-day visit to Washington.
Meanwhile, at the same time, Blinken met with Panama’s Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney at the State Department at a press pool, a couple of hours before Sherman’s meeting with Bilawal which was closed to the media.
It is worth mentioning here that since becoming FM in April, 2022, Bilawal has extensively travelled abroad and made over 10 foreign trips, in just eight months, with this being his third visit to the US alone. However the recent visit seems to be a snub and indicates that US was only interested in holding talks with Pakistan, focusing mainly of Afghanistan. Recently, Ukraine’s President Zelensky visited the US and in a day managed to have a meeting with Blinken. If everything had to be discussed via phone call, then this trip seemed to be fruitless. Although the US has generously helped Pakistan amid the flood crisis, it seems as there is no US interest in extending the relationship over to trade and business, which is of vital interest to Pakistan.
More tangible results need to be seen from the US, in assuring Pakistan that the present recalibration of US-Pakistan ties serve not just US interests but is beneficial to Pakistan also, in terms of increase in volume of trade and investment in the country. Fancy photo-shoots and smiling faces alone will not suffice for this relationship to sustain and unless there is a measurable change from the US side, all this diplomatic show will be a waste of time and efforts.
Under arrangement between Matrix and CRSS.
Zehra Zaidi