- Says will remain committed to working with Pakistan on common threats
ISLAMABAD: The US acknowledged Pakistan’s pivotal role in the counterterrorism efforts over the years, but it has never been a formal ally bound by treaty obligations, senior White House official John Kirby has clarified.
At a Washington briefing, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby candidly addressed the nature of the US-Pakistan relationship, highlighting the absence of any formal defence pact.
“Pakistan was never a technical ally of the United States. I mean, there was no treaty of alliance with Pakistan,” he stated in response to a question.
Despite this, Kirby emphasized the long history of cooperation between the two countries, particularly in combating terrorism in the volatile Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.
“Certainly, over many, many years in the last couple of decades, we partnered with Pakistan as appropriate to deal with the terrorist threat that still exists on that spine between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he explained.
‘Will remain committed to working with Pakistan on common threats’
At the same time, Kirby also acknowledged the human cost of terrorism in Pakistan, recognising that its citizens continue to suffer from cross-border violence.
“We recognise that Pakistan is still — still the Pakistani people fall victim to terrorist violence coming from across that border.
“And we have, and for as long as we’ll be in office here, remain committed to working with Pakistan to address those common threats and challenges. And that’s not — that hasn’t changed. It’s not going to change,” Kirby said during the briefing.
In August last year, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel had reaffirmed the US’s commitment to preventing groups like the banned militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from using Afghanistan as a base for launching terrorist attacks against neighbouring countries.
The next month, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller asserted that the US would continue to stand “shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism”.
According to the interior ministry, 351 civilians and 573 law enforcement agencies (LEAs) personnel lost their lives in 1,566 terrorism incidents in the first 10 months of 2024.
This acknowledgement reflects a broader trend in the Biden administration’s policy toward Pakistan: a focus on shared security challenges while steering clear of deeper strategic commitments. Washington’s reluctance to treat Pakistan as a formal ally mirrors its broader approach to avoiding entanglement in Pakistan’s internal political dynamics.
For instance, when asked to comment on alleged firing at a PTI rally on November 26, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller maintained a measured stance.
“We want to see any protests be peaceful, and we want to see the government of Pakistan, as is true with any government around the world, engage with peaceful protests respectfully and to deal with them peacefully,” he said.
This careful approach extends even to strategic issues such as Pakistan’s missile programme. Last month, when the US sanctioned three Pakistani firms for their alleged involvement in supporting the country’s missile programme, Deputy Spokesperson Patel clarified the rationale behind the decision.
“These sanctions that we made in Pakistan are rooted in, as I have said now three times, our longstanding concerns about their long-range ballistic missile programme. It is not a bearing on other areas of cooperation between us and Pakistan,” Patel said.
The Biden administration’s messaging, therefore, signals a deliberate effort to balance criticism with the preservation of a functional working relationship, particularly in counterterrorism.
