Daily Times

This gentleman secured access to a diplomatic car and driver by falsely claiming to be a close friend of President Biden

It was a cold January night, complete with piercing wind, when a vehicle bearing diplomatic plates drove up to the Ronald Reagan International Airport, in Washington DC, to pick up a Pakistani-American businessman. The gentleman had flown in from another state to attend the oath-taking ceremony of the president-elect, Joe Biden.

Finding adequate parking space at the airport was not an easy job, especially for a new driver who had only arrived in the city from his home country a few weeks prior. Both the parking garage and pick-up lines were hard to manoeuvre, leaving the car circling round multiple times while the guest went through extraordinary security checks inside. The airport had transformed into a military base in a bid to mitigate any domestic terrorist threats during the oath-taking.

Demands from the Pakistani-American businessman afforded him VIP treatment, including access to the diplomatic vehicle and its driver, during his stay. His importance lay in the fact that he was “the only ever Pakistani-American” invited to the event. This claim was later proved wrong. During his three-day visit, the businessman misused the resources provided to him by the Embassy of Pakistan. He claimed to be a close friend of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. On one occasion, the businessman tried to give a ride to a congressman, but the driver refused as many of the streets were closed due to increased security. The gentleman continued to make tall claims of soon receiving an important position in the Biden administration and, in turn, using that position to create and provide many Pakistani-Americans with jobs. At the end of his visit, the businessman reportedly yelled at Pakistani Diplomats at Pakistan House. A source familiar with the situation told this scribe that “he was yelling at them for providing him with a small vehicle and an untrained driver and threatened to take up the matter at the highest level”. A Pakistani diplomat later noted that, “firstly, the ‘businessman’ had not been authorised to roam about Washington DC in a diplomatic vehicle and that, secondly, he was deliberately misleading everyone by referring to himself as a close friend of President Biden”.

This gentleman secured access to a diplomatic car and driver by falsely claiming to be a close friend of President Biden

Now, four months into the Biden administration — this gentleman has not received a single offer to join the cabinet. Moreover, he has not even been able to contact either the president or his team to inquire about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s request to talk to President Biden by telephone. The businessman also failed to secure job offers for Pakistani-Americans. In fact, it was eventually revealed that he had never been invited to the oath-taking ceremony, having got the ticket from a congressman. But the good news is that he recently received one of the highest civil national awards in Pakistan.

The reason for telling this story is to simply remind that about 55 Indian-Americans currently hold top-level positions in the Biden administration; even the presidential speechwriter is Indian-American. By contrast, Pakistani-Americans, who claim to turn tables for Pakistan, are left arguing about diplomatic vehicles and drivers.

President Biden’s office, for its part, has not bothered to reply to the telephone call request from PM Imran Khan. More recently, the administration did not invite Pakistan to the US virtual climate change summit, scheduled for later this month, where countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh, and India will attend. Similarly, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry recently visited India — but not Pakistan — to talk about the climate crisis and the need for clean energy transition.

Pakistan is being regularly sidelined and one obvious reason is the dominance of Indian-Americans in the Biden administration, holding the posts of Deputy Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel, Deputy Press Secretary of the White House and Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights in the National Security Council, to name but a few.

Pakistani authorities need to understand that there is much work to be done, not just the policy-decision making level but also at the diplomatic level. If, that is, Pakistan is to have a seat at the US table.

The writer is a Washington-based journalist and author. He has been covering international politics and foreign policy for the last 15 years