ISLAMABAD: Pakistan can help bridge differences between the United States (US) and China, Islamabad’s envoy to Washington said on Thursday, amid the South Asian country’s efforts to strike a balance in its ties with the two world powers.
Relations between the US and China have been strained over the past several years as both world powers seek to increase their global influence in several domains. The two nations have often had disagreements over trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Pakistan maintains a delicate balance in its relations with China and the US. While aligned with the US for military cooperation and counter-terrorism efforts, Islamabad has strengthened economic ties with Beijing through initiatives like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
In a talk delivered at the University of California, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Washington Rizwan Saeed Sheikh underscored the strength of Pakistan-US relations and highlighted the role of the Pakistani-American community in fostering mutual growth, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“Pakistan has the potential to serve as a bridge between China and the United States,” Sheikh was quoted as saying at the event.
The statement came hours after the Pakistani Foreign Office said its relations with key longtime ally China would remain “unaffected” by Donald Trump winning the US presidential election
“Pakistan’s relations with China are all-weather,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said during a weekly press briefing when asked if Trump’s victory will affect the country’s China policy.
“They are strategic and a source of stability in our foreign policy.”
Baloch said Islamabad does not even need to consider the possibility that its relationship with China will be affected by any domestic development in another country.
The complex US-China rivalry impacts Pakistan as it navigates its strategic partnerships with both world powers while grappling with a prolonged economic crisis.
“Our relations with the United States are decades old, and we look forward to further strengthen and broaden Pakistan-US relationship in all fields,” Baloch said.
“As the Deputy Prime Minister said in a tweet yesterday, we look forward to fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation between Pakistan and the United States.”
Pakistan and the US cultivated strong defense ties during the Cold War days yet their relationship was also tested by divergent priorities on various issues.
In recent years, Washington and Islamabad’s ties deteriorated as the former suspected the latter of supporting the Taliban in their 2021 takeover of Kabul, allegations which Islamabad rejected. Tensions rose further in 2022 when former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accused the Biden administration of orchestrating his ouster via a parliamentary vote, a charge the US denied.
Pakistan, under PM Shehbaz Sharif’s two separate stints as prime minister in 2022 and 2024, has actively sought to improve its relations with the US.

ISLAMABAD: A three-year-old girl in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has sued the government of the Punjab province as record-high air pollution levels have triggered hundreds of hospitalizations, school closures and stay-at-home orders in the city, which has been enveloped in a thick, toxic smog since last month.
On Friday, Lahore, home to 13 million people, had the worst air quality of any city in the world, according to IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring company.
Research shows children exposed to high levels of smog may suffer from reduced lung capacity, pneumonia, bronchitis and other lung infections and more asthma attacks and worse symptoms than adults. 
“Under Article 9-A of the Constitution, the government is obligated to provide citizens with a clean and healthy environment,” said the petition filed by three-year-old Amal Sekhera, who appeared in court with her mother Mehek Zafar on Thursday. 
Sekhera said she was seeking justice for herself, her friends and the future generations as children and the elderly were the most badly hit by air pollution and smog. She also criticized the Punjab government for failing to protect fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan.
The Lahore High Court issued notices in response to the petition to the Punjab government, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the City Traffic Police. The hearing has been adjourned till Nov. 12, with the court instructing the government to ensure the presence of the provincial secretary of the Environment Protection Department and the director general of the EPA in court at the next hearing. 
Authorities earlier this week shut down schools in Lahore and said 50 percent of government employees in the city were told to work from home until next week. On Wednesday schools in 18 surrounding districts were also shut. Marriyum Aurangzeb, a senior minister in the Punjab province, has urged residents to voluntarily wear face masks and avoid unnecessary travel, and said that “otherwise, the government will be forced into a complete lockdown.” 
Authorities in the city have already banned barbecuing food without filters, as well as the use of motorized rickshaws, and wedding halls must close by 10pm. The government has also said it was looking into methods to induce artificial rainfall to combat the pollution, which has been sending patients to hospitals and private clinics complaining of coughs and burning eyes.
“Tens of thousands of patients suffering from respiratory diseases were treated at hospitals and clinics in a week,” Salman Kazmi, vice president of the Pakistan Medical Association, told media on Thursday.