Pakistan has played a pivotal role in US 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.
This nuanced positioning underscores the delicate and complex nature of US-Pakistan relations, shaped by shared security concerns and divergent strategic priorities.
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 emphasised 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.
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”.
A US State Department report released in December noted that Pakistan has made substantial progress in countering terrorist financing and addressing regional extremist networks.
In the most recent bilateral engagement, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and outgoing US Ambassador Donald Blome discussed strategies for addressing global challenges such as terrorism.
