The week-long visit of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to US when Afghan withdrawal is happening has given shockwaves to the government.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari left for the US after abandoning his electioneering in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday.
The sudden visit is happening when the US is pulling out of Afghanistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan has explicitly refused to give airbases to it for surveillance and striking the militants.
PPP spokesperson said that Bilawal is traveling to the US to attend a conference and holding private meetings.
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The visit has sprouted several rumors about the significance of the visit for which the PPP chairman had to postpone his election campaign in AJK.
At the beginning of the month, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication, Dr Shahbaz Gill, had alleged that Bilawal would be traveling to the US to present his CV to Washington.
He had criticized the PPP chairman for being ready to do everything to come into power.
کیا بلاول اپنے والد کی طرح اقتدار کی اگلی باری لینے واشنگٹن پہنچ رہے ہیں؟ کیا عرضی یہ ہے کہ اگر آپ ہمیں حکومت میں لائیں تو بھلے اڈے مانگیں یا ڈرون اٹیک کریں،ہم آپ سے نہیں پوچھیں گے،بس بدلے میں واشنگٹن ہمیں آشرواد دے؟
مگر بلاول کو شاید پتہ نہیں کہ وقت،دنیا اور پاکستان اب بدل چکا!
— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) July 3, 2021
“Bring us in power and ask for airbases or do drone attacks, we will not ask”, Dr Shahbaz Gill alleged Bilawal’s plea to the US.
After Bilawal’s departure, Interior Minister Shiekh Rasheed also said on Sunday that nobody could move Imran Khan (from power) even if Bilawal visits the US thrice.
Notably, US President Joe Biden hasn’t directly contacted Imran Khan yet on the withdrawal issue even though Pakistan is a major facilitator in the Afghan peace process.
Pakistan’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf had recently said in an interview with American media that the US is making the same errors it made in the 90s in the withdrawal process.
The Democratic Party, which is at the helm in the US, is also considered to have close ties with PPP.