According to US State Department Consul Derek Shule, Washington is talking to Islamabad about the "dangers" of a closer relationship with Beijing but will not ask Pakistan to choose between the US and China.
US State Department Consul Derek Shule said on the occasion of his visit to Islamabad on Thursday that the US is concerned about the debts owed by China and other countries to Pakistan.
According to the news agency Reuters, the economically troubled Pakistan, historically a close ally of Washington, is increasingly close to China, which has provided it with billions in loans.
Pakistan is facing a severe economic crisis due to decades of high inflation and continued debt service obligations with extremely low foreign exchange reserves.
After meeting with Pakistani officials, Derek Scholey told reporters at the US embassy in Pakistan: 'We have been very clear about our concerns about Chinese debt or debt owed to China, not just here in Pakistan. are.'
According to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released in September last year, China and Chinese commercial banks have about 30 percent of Pakistan's total external debt of $100 billion. Much of this lending came under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.
Derek Scholey said Washington was talking to Islamabad about the "dangers" of closer ties with Beijing, but would not ask Pakistan to choose between the US and China.
Relations between Islamabad and Washington have soured in the past due to the war in Afghanistan, but bilateral relations have improved in recent months with increased high-level visits. Officials from China and the United States are participating in a new sovereign multilateral roundtable on debt on Friday.
G7 countries and lenders have long called for broader efforts to relieve indebted countries of debt so that they can avoid cuts to social services, fueling unrest. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other G-Seven officials see China, now the world's largest sovereign creditor, as a major obstacle to debt relief efforts.
Derek Shule added that the US is working with Pakistan to get out of the current economic crisis. The US delegation has made the visit at a time when Pakistan's $350 billion economy has been hit hard by devastating floods.
10-day talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ended without a deal in Islamabad last Friday and virtual talks are set to resume this week.
