Pak may be ‘one of the most dangerous nations in the world’ as the country has ‘nuclear weapons without any cohesion’: Joe Biden
WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD/LONDON, Oct 15 (SABAH): United States President Joe Biden has alleged that Pakistan may be “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as the country has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”, it emerged on Saturday.
Joe Biden made the remarks while addressing a Democratic congressional campaign committee reception on Thursday. A transcript of the address, published on the White House’s website, quoted Biden as saying: “… And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion.”
He said the world was changing rapidly and countries were rethinking their alliances. “And the truth of the matter is — I genuinely believe this — that the world is looking to us. Not a joke. Even our enemies are looking to us to figure out how we figure this out, what we do.”
There was a lot at stake, Biden said, emphasising that the US had the capacity to lead the world to a place it had never been before.
“Did any of you ever think you’d have a Russian leader, since the Cuban Missile Crisis, threatening the use of tactical nuclear weapons that would — could only kill three, four thousand people and be limited to make a point?
“Did anybody think we’d be in a situation where China is trying to figure out its role relative to Russia and relative to India and relative to Pakistan?”
Talking about his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the US President termed him as a man who knew what he wanted but had an “enormous” array of problems. “How do we handle that? How do we handle that relative to what’s going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” the US president said, adding that despite a lot going on, the US has a hunk of opportunities to change the dynamic in the second quarter of the 21st century.
Meanwhile former prime minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, in whose administration Pakistan became an atomic power, also weighed in on the matter, saying Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state that is perfectly capable of safeguarding its national interest whilst respecting international law and practices.
“Our nuclear program is in no way a threat to any country,” he said on Twitter. “Like all independent states, Pakistan reserves the right to protect its autonomy, sovereign statehood and territorial integrity.”
Minister for Power Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan termed the US president’s statement about Pakistan’s nuclear programme “baseless”.
While answering a question about President Joe Biden’s comments regarding Pakistan during a press conference on Saturday, the former defence minister said, “Pakistan s nuclear command and control system is absolutely safe which has been confirmed by international organisations many times”.
He said that the US president s doubts about Pakistan’s nukes are “completely wrong and the statement is baseless”.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has long claimed that the US was behind a regime-change operation against their ousted government, seized on Biden’s comments.
PTI Chief and former prime minister Imran Khan said he had two questions regarding the US president’s statement. “On what info has Biden reached this unwarranted conclusion on our nuclear capability when, having been PM, I know we have one of the most secure nuclear command & control systems?
“Unlike the US which has been involved in wars across the world, when has Pakistan shown aggression especially post-nuclearisation,” he asked.
The ex-premier claimed that Biden’s statement showed the “total failure of the imported government’s foreign policy and its claims of a reset of relations with the US”.
“Is this the ‘reset’? This government has broken all records for incompetence,” Imran Khan tweeted, adding that he feared the incumbent government would end up compromising national security.
Former human rights minister Dr. Shireen M. Mazari demanded an apology from the US president for his “nasty remarks”.
“A nuclear US is a threat to the world because you have no control over your nukes. B52 bomber takes off with six live nukes in 2007 and no one knows for hours,” she tweeted.
Mazari went on to allege that the US was an “irresponsible superpower with nukes”. “Your proclivity to interfere globally with regime change agendas alongside militarising the oceans. Custodial torture in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram. Even your own people are not safe with gunmen going on killing sprees. Have some shame, Biden.”
In another tweet, the PTI leader also called out the Pakistan Army and “imported government” for choosing to stay silent on “Biden’s tirade”.
PTI General Secretary Asad Umar said that countries in glass houses should think before throwing stones at others. “Nuclear country without cohesion? Is Biden referring to the US? After all his party is going after Donald Trump for trying to subvert the constitution and steal the last presidential election,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, ex-information and broadcasting minister Fawad Chaudhry demanded that Biden should immediately retract his statement, asserting that Pakistan’s leadership may be weak but its people were not.