US seeks to expand strategic partnership with Pakistan, says Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Washington sees an opportunity to expand its strategic relationship with Pakistan, stressing that the renewed partnership does not come at the expense of its historic ties with India.

Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, Rubio was asked whether India had raised concerns about Washington’s growing engagement with Islamabad.

“They really haven’t – I mean, we know they’re concerned for obvious reasons because of the tensions that have existed between Pakistan and India historically,” Rubio said, according to a transcript released by the State Department. “But I think they have to understand, we have to have relations with a lot of different countries.”

He added, “We see an opportunity to expand our strategic relationship with Pakistan, and that’s our job – to figure out how many countries we can work with on things of common interest.”

Rubio described India as “very mature” in its diplomatic approach. “They have some relationships with countries that we don’t have relationships with. It’s part of a mature, pragmatic foreign policy,” he said. “I don’t think anything we’re doing with Pakistan comes at the expense of our relationship or friendship with India, which is deep, historic, and important.”

Asked whether Pakistan’s recent recognition of President Donald Trump’s role in averting war with India played a part in improving ties, Rubio said, “I think they appreciated.”

He elaborated, “Anytime you work with someone, you get to know them and you interact with them. I do think there was some sense of happiness about it. But even before that conflict had started, I had already reached out to them and said, look, we are interested in rebuilding an alliance, a strategic partnership with you. We think there are things we can work together with them on.”

The secretary of state said the US remained “fully aware of the challenges with regards to India,” but added that Washington’s goal was “to create opportunities for partnerships with countries where it’s possible.”

“We’ve had a long history of partnering with Pakistan on counterterrorism and things of that nature,” he said. “We’d like to expand it beyond that, if possible, understanding that there’ll be some difficulties and some challenges.”

Rubio called the strengthened ties “a very encouraging thing” and reiterated that “it doesn’t come at the expense of our good relationship with India or anybody else.”

The renewed cooperation between Washington and Islamabad has been visible since Pakistan acknowledged President Trump’s role in helping defuse a four-day escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors earlier this year.

Following the episode, Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir paid a five-day official visit to Washington in June. He met President Trump over luncheon – the first serving Pakistani army chief to meet a sitting US president face-to-face.

Munir later termed his follow-up visit to the US in August as a “new dimension” in bilateral relations. In September, he joined Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, where the two sides discussed regional security, counterterrorism, and cooperation in new sectors.

Trump has publicly praised both Shehbaz and what he called “my favorite” Field Marshal Munir for their efforts in securing a ceasefire in Gaza. Earlier on Saturday, he described them as “great people” and said he would help “solve very quickly” the ongoing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In a sign of growing economic cooperation, US Strategic Metals (USSM) – an American company – signed a memorandum of understanding with Pakistan in September to invest about $500 million in mineral processing and development facilities.

The first consignment of mineral samples, including antimony, copper concentrate, and rare earth elements such as neodymium and praseodymium, was recently dispatched to the US in collaboration with Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organization.

USSM called the delivery “a milestone in the Pakistan–US strategic partnership,” adding that the MoU “establishes a roadmap for cooperation across the entire mineral value chain – from exploration and processing to the establishment of refineries inside Pakistan."