President Joe Biden’s careless mumblings have caused another diplomatic incident, this time with nuclear power Pakistan.
Pakistan on Saturday summoned the U.S. ambassador after President Biden called it “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” and questioned the safety of the country’s nuclear weapons.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed the significance of the president’s latest gaffe involving a nuclear power. “Though the White House spokesperson later played down Biden’s remarks, insisting the US president wanted a stable and prosperous Pakistan, the damage had already been done,” Pakistan-base The Express Tribune reported.
“The remarks triggered an immediate backlash from Pakistan, which summoned the US envoy in Islamabad to explain Biden’s uncalled-for remarks,” the newspaper added.
The Reuters reported fall-out of Biden’s latest gaffe:
Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Saturday he had summoned the U.S. ambassador after President Joe Biden questioned the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear programme.In a speech on Thursday, Biden said Pakistan is “maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as it has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”.Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said he was surprised by the comments. “As far as the question of the safety and security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets are concerned, we meet all – each and every – international standard in accordance with the IAEA,” he said at a press conference on Saturday.A transcript of Biden’s speech was published by the White House on its website.Bhutto-Zardari said he didn’t think the decision to summon the U.S. ambassador would negatively affect relations with the United States, and said officials could address any specific concerns Washington had on the nuclear programme.”The United States regularly meets with Pakistani officials.” A U.S. State Department spokesperson in Washington told Reuters in a statement, adding: “As standard practice, we do not comment on the specifics of private diplomatic conversations.” (…)The foreign minister said worries about Pakistan’s nuclear programme were not raised on his recent trip to Washington, where he held extensive meetings, including at the State Department.
This is not the first time in recent months that President Biden’s remarks have alarmed a nuclear power.
A month after Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden caused a major stir when he publicly declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” On March 26, he closed a speech in Warsaw, Poland with an unscripted remark, saying: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” an apparent reference to the Russian leader.
Biden later walked back those comments, clarifying that he was not calling for a regime change in Russia, a country with the world’s second-largest nuclear arsenal.
Since Biden took office fifteen months ago, the White House has been busy clearing the trail of political and diplomatic wreckage left behind by a mumbling and bumbling president. Biden’s cognitive decline should worry everyone as the West teeters on the edge of a possible military conflict with nuclear Russia.
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