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Pakistan's Premier Multilingual News Agency

Future of Pak-US Ties

By Shaikh Moazzam Khan

By Shaikh Moazzam Khan

The time has come for the United States President Donald Trump to convince American voters in his bid for re-elections. The US presidential elections are scheduled to be held on November 3 because of US constitutional history presidential elections held on the first Tuesday of November. Incumbent President Trump is trailing behind his potential challenger Democratic leader Joe Biden. As per the initials surveys, media reports, think tank reports, President Trump is likely to get a defeat in the elections as US voters seems fed up with the racist policies of Trump administration.

On the other hand, Joe Biden is sweeping in all the swinging states such as Florida, Ohio, Georgia and many other states. Apparently, President Trump’s handling of coronavirus pandemic has led to the downfall of popularity. American citizens doesn’t seems happy with Presidential response for the pandemic. Many international media outlets termed President Trump ‘most irresponsible’ man of the world who took the pandemic irresponsibly.

The other major challenge for President Trump is to unite US nation which is divided on the issue of racism and ultranationalist ideologies of white supremacist. Being the commander in chief and leader of US nation, President Trump must treat all communities equally. Unfortunately, he failed to do so and act impartially. His response to the pandemic and black lives matters protests irked millions of Americans. They denounced his response by staging agitations against his policies in different states across the country.

At international arena, a few countries are hoping for President Trump to loss the elections to Joe Biden. They see Joe Biden as more internationalist as compare to incumbent President Trump. On the issue of Iran nuclear agreement, Climate Change and bilateral relations with China and Russia, Joe Biden is more optimistic than incumbent Trump. Joe Biden in his election campaign declared that his administration will return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal widely known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The democratic candidate reiterated his resolve for batter relationship with emerging international countries such as China and Russia. He also reiterated batter deal for Afghanistan in case he gets elected. If Biden elected, his administration is likely to have healthy relationship with Pakistan as well. During the Obama administration when Biden was his Vice President, Biden favored Pakistan in various programs. Biden was among those people who initiated and recommended famous Karry Loger Bill in US Congress.

It is expected that Biden would go ahead with Trump’s policy of withdrawing American forces from Afghanistan and maintaining good ties with the Taliban. According to a US secret document leaked recently, it appears that one of the major tasks of the US Afghan contingent would be to keep an eye on Pakistan’s nuclear facilities and on Iran. Surely, Pakistan has always been wary of US designs and takes appropriate measures to ensure the integrity of its nuclear establishments and military systems.

Biden administration will likely improve strategic relations with Pakistan Vis a Vis India. For Pakistan, like many other countries, the US is the best destination for higher education. It is an area that again has mutual benefit. Knowledge and expertise that students acquire helps in strengthening the educational and technological base. Qualified students having spent time in the US also become ambassadors of goodwill between the countries. President Trump never gave any importance to this area. In fact, by tightening the visa regime and squeezing university grants Trump has been discouraging admission of foreign students. Biden is likely to reverse this policy and ease restrictions.

Pakistan will face US opposition on CPEC and China’s growing influence in the region. In this, Washington would work closely with India. Pakistan has successfully resisted US pressure in the past and should be able to do so in the future. Irrespective of who is the president of the US, Pakistan’s relations with it would also largely depend on how the country overcomes its economic dependence and gains national coherence.

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