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Oct. 5, 2022, 3:46 p.m.
Ties in focus as Pakistan army chief meets US officials
Ties in focus as Pakistan army chief meets US officials
['Pakistan', 'relationship', 'country', 'China', 'military']

Analysts say General Qamar Javed Bajwa is in Washington to ensure relations remain functional.

Ties in focus as Pakistan army chief meets US officials

During the previous decade, Pakistan steadily moved towards its main regional ally China for its economic and defence needs, which resulted in the gradual cooling-off in its relationship with the US. After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August last year, the relationship fractured even more. The Pakistani side felt that the US had left neighbouring Afghanistan without an exit strategy whereas the US expressed frustration that Pakistan did not play a role in controlling the Taliban. Last month, both Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during their visit to the US. The top US diplomat last week defended a recently approved $450m F-16 deal after criticism from Pakistan's archrival, India. "It is perhaps a kind of assurance to the Americans by the army chief that whatever we agree, Pakistan will continue with [that] policy," Lahore-based political analyst Hassan Askari Rizvi told Al Jazeera. "In return, the US is providing some aid to Pakistan to mitigate the damage and destruction unleashed by monsoon floods as well as use its influence on the International Monetary Fund for the bailout package and help the country come off the FATF list," Basit told Al Jazeera, referring to the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental body that keeps Pakistan on a watchlist of countries that do not meet the organisation's criteria to restrict the funding of terrorist groups. While rebuilding its relationship with Washington, Pakistan will also have to maintain a balancing act with China, which is at loggerheads with the US over a number of issues. "Improving ties with Pakistan is meant to counterbalance China as well as give a signal to India for snubbing the US and the West over the Ukraine conflict and continuing oil imports from Russia," he said.

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