- US senator warns of disaster if Pakistan not engaged on Afghanistan situation.
- Decision to withdraw all forces and not stay engaged with Pakistan is a major disaster in the making, even worse than the blunder in Iraq, US Senator Lindsey Graham says.
- Question how US troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan can be effective without coordinating with Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD: US Senator Lindsey Graham is stunned to hear that President Joe Biden has yet to get in touch with Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding the US-Pakistan relationship and Afghanistan.
He expressed his disbelief over the situation in a Twitter thread Tuesday.
The decision by the Biden administration to withdraw all forces and not stay engaged with Pakistan is a major disaster in the making, even worse than the blunder in Iraq, the US senator wrote.
Graham asked how the US expects its withdrawal from Afghanistan to be effective without coordinating with Pakistan. “Clearly the Biden Administration believes that our problems in Afghanistan are behind us,” he wrote.
President Biden’s reluctance to engage with Pakistani leaders was highlighted in an interview PM Khan gave to an American television channel earlier this week when the interviewer asked him if he had spoken to Biden since he took office. “No, I have not,” the prime minister said.
“Is there a reason for that?” the interviewer asked. “Whenever he has time, he can speak to me. But now, clearly, he has other priorities,” the prime minister said.