The White House’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Saturday dismissed Pakistan’s protest over US President Joe Biden’s remarks regarding Pakistan’s nuclear program, saying the US president has made such comments before.
Earlier, President Biden had said that Pakistan may be “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as the country has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”.
“And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” Biden was quoted as saying in a transcript of the address, published on the White House’s website.
In response to a question during a press gaggle on Friday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden views a secure and prosperous Pakistan as critical to US interests.
“So that is something [about what his views have] been on Pakistan,” the press secretary said. “More specifically he’s made those comments before, so that is nothing new — what you heard from him last night.”
Defending Biden’s remarks, the press secretary said that Biden believes in a secure and prosperous Pakistan, and so he thinks that’s “important to US interests”.
Earlier, Pakistan hit back at US President Joe Biden for raising doubts over the country’s nuclear security as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) handed a demarche to US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome.
The ministry informed the envoy of Pakistan’s stance, and Ambassador Blome has also been asked to seek an explanation from the US president for his statement.
The US ambassador has also been informed that Pakistan’s atomic assets are safe, foreign office said.
In a separate statement issued by the PM House, Premier Shehbaz termed the US president’s remarks as ‘factually incorrect and misleading’.
“Over the past decades, Pakistan has proven be a most responsible nuclear state, wherein its nuclear program is managed through a technically sound and foolproof command and control system.” PM said.
Moreover, in a tweet from his official handle on Saturday, PM ‘unequivocally reiterated’ that Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and added that country’s nuclear assets have the best safeguards as per International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requirements.
“We take these safety measures with the utmost seriousness. Let no one have any doubts,” he added.
