While China and Bangladesh remained uninvited to Washington’s Summit for Democracy, Pakistan has chosen to stay out of it despite being one of the invitees. This comes even as Islamabad continues to be upset over US President Joe Biden’s decision not to ring Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan since taking office. The Pakistan government has chosen to give the Summit for Democracy a miss, although Islamabad said Wednesday that it was “thankful” to the US government for inviting it.
The summit is being held for the first time on 8, 9 and 10 December, with countries participating virtually. In an announcement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said, “Pakistan is a large functional democracy with an independent judiciary, vibrant civil society, and a free media. We remain deeply committed to further deepening democracy, fighting corruption, and protecting and promoting human rights of all citizens. In recent years, Pakistan has instituted wide-ranging reforms aimed at advancing these goals. These reforms have yielded positive results.”
It also said, “We value our partnership with the US, which we wish to expand both bilaterally as well as in terms of regional and international cooperation. We remain in contact with the US on a range of issues and believe that we can engage on this subject at an opportune time in the future.”
“Pakistan will, meanwhile, continue to support all efforts aimed towards strengthening dialogue, constructive engagement, and international cooperation for the advancement of our shared goals,” it added.
While Islamabad didn’t explicitly and officially say it would not participate in the summit, sources in the Pakistan government state that a final decision had been taken not to attend. According to another source, Islamabad is upset with the fact that Beijing has been excluded from the summit, which is seen as setting an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action. However, it also wants the US to “treat” Pakistan as a democratic country. The Pakistan media also reported that the country won’t be attending the Summit due to the fact that its all-weather friend China has not been invited.
*Report from The Print.
December 10, 2021
