Days after President Joe Biden referred to Pakistan as one of the most dangerous countries in the world and claimed that it possessed “nuclear weapons without any cohesiveness,” the United States has voiced its “assurance” in the country’s capacity to protect its nuclear arsenal.
The US has always believed that a secure and prosperous Pakistan is essential to US interests, and it is confident in Pakistan’s commitment and its capacity to secure its nuclear assets, according to state department spokesperson Vedant Patel in a press briefing on Monday.c
The comments were made following a discussion between Masood Khan, the Pakistani ambassador to the US, and Derek Chollet, a counsellor for the state department.
Chollet tweeted following the meeting that he had met with the ambassador to go over their “longstanding collaboration.”
The following day, Khan reacted, stating that he and Chollet had spoken about “means to create greater resilience in #PAKUS ties and increase strategic trust.”
Al Jazeera contacted Pakistan’s foreign and information ministries over the US remark, but neither provided a response.
