WASHINGTON
\nAs Islamabad looks to revitalise ties with Washington, a US-led virtual summit going to be held on Tuesday (tomorrow), will test Pakistan\u2019s diplomacy as the country will try not to irk its longtime ally and all-weather friend China.
\nBoth India and Pakistan have been invited to the summit. India attended the last meeting and may do so this year as well. Pakistan had opted out of the first summit, reportedly on back of the Biden administration\u2019s refusal to reach out to the then prime minister Imran Khan.
\nFor the cash-starved Pakistan, the summit could be a major opportunity to win over US support for raising funds from international lenders and bilateral donors, media reports said Monday.
\nBut Pakistan\u2019s long-standing ally and \u2018all-weather friend\u2019 China would be closely monitoring these overtures as the US has already annoyed Beijing by inviting Taiwan, China\u2019s longstanding nemesis.
\nBeijing would want Pakistan to opt out of the \u2018controversial\u2019 moot but doing so will send negative signals to the US at a time when Islamabad wants Washington to be on its side to help secure a deal with the IMF. The decision to keep Turkiye out of the summit was another cause of concern for Pakistan.
\n\u201cOne would expect Pakistan to pass again, assuming Taiwan is there, in deference to China,\u201d said Michael Kugelman, a scholar of South Asian affairs at the Wilson Center, Washington.
\n\u201cWhile very unlikely, I wouldn\u2019t completely rule out Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari making an appearance,\u201d Mr Kugelman said. \u201cHe\u2019s been a very frequent visitor to the US lately.\u201d
\nOfficials at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington said they had not heard anything from Islamabad yet. \u201cSince it\u2019s mostly a virtual meeting, Pakistan still has time to decide,\u201d one of the embassy officials said. \u201cThe participation can be confirmed on Monday as well.\u201d
\nThe virtual summit has been co-sponsored by the US Department of State and USAID on the theme of \u2018Global Declaration of Mayors for Democracy\u2019. The event will showcase the role of cities and subnational governments in the affirmation of democratic values and the renewal of democracy worldwide.
\nFrom March 29-30, the US will co-host the second \u2018Summit for Democracy\u2019 with the governments of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Zambia.
\nUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken will participate in most of the events. On March 28, Secretary Blinken will chair a virtual panel session on \u2018A Just and Lasting Peace in Ukraine\u2019 featuring Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON As Islamabad looks to revitalise ties with Washington, a US-led virtual summit going to be held on Tuesday (tomorrow), will test Pakistan\u2019s diplomacy as the country will try not to irk its longtime ally and all-weather friend China. Both India and Pakistan have been invited to the summit. India attended the last meeting and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-322223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n