UN debates Ukraine: Pakistan stays on sidelines

In Washington, the US State Department urged journalists not to “focus on individual specific countries” when they asked questions about India’s abstentions, reports The Dawn.

Pakistan, which is trying not to take sides on this issue, stayed away from both sessions. As a UN member, Pakistan can participate in the UNGA debate, which entered its second day on Tuesday, but so far it has avoided doing so.

Indications are that Pakistan wants to avoid getting involved in the dispute which places it in an uncomfortable position. Pakistan is a traditional US ally, which once provided Washington a corridor to reach out to China, reports The Dawn.

Relations between the two countries, however, have strained recently, as the United States grew closer to India, which now has a key role in the US efforts to contain China, the newspaper reported.

Interestingly, Pakistan and China are all-weather allies.

Diplomatic observers in Washington claim that China also played a key role in arranging Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Russia last week.

The observers argue that Pakistan is gradually orbiting out of the American influence and getting closer to both China and Russia, a claim Islamabad rejects as incorrect, reports The Dawn.