The President of the United States has met and telephoned most world leaders, but he has not even called the Prime Minister of Pakistan. After refusing to participate in the Democracy summit on ‘the US invitation to Pakistan has reached Washington to explain the reasons for its refusal to join. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and shared Islamabad’s decision.
Pakistan’s refusal to join China, which was not invited to the summit, made it difficult for Islamabad to memorize the invitation. According to sources, Pakistan did not attend the Conference because China was not invited. The move was seen as an American attempt to divide the world because the invitation was extended to Taiwan but not to China.
The US has extended invitations to more than 100 countries, including Pakistan, to participate in a visible democratic conference. Pakistan was one of four South Asian countries invited by Joe Biden to the Conference.
The decision not to attend the democracy summit included internal consultation and detailed consultation with China, which was later confirmed as China announced Pakistan’s decision not to participate in the Conference, calling it a “real steel brother”. In Pakistan, the Conference was also heavily criticized for the visitor list, which did not invite a few other active democracies, including Bangladesh and Bhutan.
After all, what was the standard, based on the American decision of which democracy and which did not? The non-invitation of China and Russia made it clear that it was an attempt to establish a new political party. The invitation to Taiwan made it clear that it had sent a message to China.
Experts could say that this democratic Conference is designed to divide China. Those who have seen in the last days of former President Donald Trump’s administration on the field will never forget the sad state of American democracy, the mass invasion of Capitol Hill, the seat of American democracy, and they do not know Biden.
According to former ambassador Dr Maleeha Lodhi, the erosion of democracy in the United States has taken a different turn, leading to the collapse. In recent years, Trumpist populism has empowered apartheid and white supremacist groups by uniting them, furthering racism and dividing the world. Well, if you look at the whole world, there is no place for pure democracy; every capital city of the world has its challenges because the principles of democracy are being challenged by increasing intolerance.
One can see the rise of nationalist populism in the right emerging wing. Each country has its weaknesses and is the only one that can find a way out of it, instead of any external forces interfering. It is also noteworthy that although Joe Biden tried to contact Prime Minister Imran Khan by inviting him to a conference recognizing Pakistan as a democracy, he ignored Imran Khan within a year of entering the Oval Office.
The President of the United States has met and telephoned most world leaders but has not received a call from the Prime Minister of Pakistan. His military leaders and citizens have blamed Pakistan for the failure of US policy in Afghanistan and criticized it for supporting the new interim Taliban government. The design of the democracy summit was such that there was no chance for Imran Khan to deliver a live speech like other leaders, such as the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.
Instead, the Pakistani prime minister was asked to record his speech, including the program.
Until the last day, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry remained silent on Islamabad’s participation in the democracy summit.
According to reports, Pakistan has negotiated with China as it did not want to offend its strong alliance in the region by attending a conference with Taiwan. After the summit, Pakistan again told the US that it wanted to break the old bilateral relations. ‘We honour our long-standing relationship with the United States.
We do not want trade relations with the United States in the future, Said Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. We want multi-faceted relationships that are not at risk of regional and international policy dynamics. We want a change from geopolitics to geo-economics, and we want a relationship with the US that is in line with our priorities that have changed.
In general, in the case of the United States, the concept of Pakistani military leadership is also considered. But these days, the tensions are running high between Imran Khan and the military, so it is difficult to predict any ongoing talks with the army. Opposition groups called for a boycott of the election, except Pakistan People’s Party leader Bilawal Bhutto.
Bilawal told the media that Pakistan had made a grave mistake by not participating in the Conference. After refusing to attend the Conference at the communications level, Pakistan’s Provincial Department of State said, “We thank the US for inviting Pakistan to participate in the Democratic Conference.” We are still in contact with the United States on several issues and can discuss this matter in advance.
Experts say Pakistan’s disregard for American invitation could have severe consequences and could undermine Islamabad’s position in the west in the coming days.
