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US as Pak gets new PM: ‘We don't support one political party over another’
Talking about the future of policymaking, the White House said that “assessments are made day by day , especially after new leaders are elected”.
Hours after Shehbaz Sharif was elected as Pakistan’s new prime minister, the White House said that the democracy in the South Asian country was “critical for America” and its cooperation with Pakistan will remain unchanged “regardless of the leadership”.
Shehbaz Sharif, brother of three-time Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, took oath as the 23rd prime minister of the country on Monday, a day after Imran Khan was ousted via a no trust vote. Khan has alleged a “foreign conspiracy” in his ouster and he even named a US diplomat.
“We value our long standing cooperation with Pakistan and have always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to the US interests. That remains unchanged regardless of who the leadership is,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a daily news briefing.
Talking about the future of policymaking, Psaki said that “assessments are made day by day , especially after new leaders are elected”. She said that the “US has an important security relationship with Pakistan which will continue under new leaders”.
“We support the peaceful upholding. We don't support one political party over another. Of course, we have a long, strong and abiding relationship with Pakistan, an important security relationship and that will continue under new leaders,” she said.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf boycotted the assembly proceedings on Monday as his successor was elected. Khan had accused the US on several occasions for ‘interfering’ with internal politics in Pakistan and ‘conspiring’ with the opposition parties. However, the US state department rubbished all such allegations by Imran Khan.
Analysts say Pakistan’s relationship with the US started declining after Imran Khan rejected an invitation to US President Joe Biden’s democracy summit in December and Islamabad continued to interfere in the Taliban set-up, which the former cricketer once saw as a victory. He had also not condemned Russia over the Ukraine war.
