After a long hiatus, the US has finally nominated its ambassador to Pakistan. The two countries were not on the friendliest of terms for the past many years, it was only when the US needed Pakistan’s help as a mediator between them and the Taliban, it was given some importance. The US is clearly more interested in developing a long-lasting relationship with India, especially after Pakistan and China’s relationship further cemented. However, Pakistan must maintain cordial relations with the hegemon for its own benefit.
In 2018, US ambassador David Hale left Islamabad, and now after three years the American president has nominated Middle East expert Donald Blome as the new US ambassador to Pakistan. The man is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service belonging to the class of minister-counselor, and is currently the US ambassador to Tunisia. He has mostly dealt with Middle Eastern states of Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt and Israel-Palestine in various missions. He also served as political counselor at the US Embassy in Kabul.
The appointment of a seasoned diplomat after such a vacuum of three years may indicate that the Biden administration has had a change of heart and believes that Pakistan is important. This may be taken as a step towards developing, if not friendlier, then at least cordial relations between the two countries. It may also be in order to decrease the growing influence of China in Pakistan. Moreover, if the US has learnt anything from its past mistakes it is less likely to abandon Pakistan completely. The last time this happened was in the 1990s, and consequently the Taliban’s influence grew at a large scale. Therefore, in order to keep that in check the US government will improve its relationship with Pakistan.
The move was welcomed by the Pakistan foreign office as it believes that despite the bumpy relationship in the past few months, with this move the US has announced that it will keep Pakistan in its list of important countries. It is important for Pakistan to develop a good relationship with the US and not solely depend on China and this opens a door for future opportunities.