PARTLY FACETIOUS: Ganging up against China

"So what's up with the G-7?"

"Ganging up against China!"

"Hmmm, so Biden is doing a Trump!"

"Well, he is doing a Trump with respect to only one country - China, with the other countries he is doing what he did when he was the Vice President - there is Putin's Russia and he isn't concerned with North Korea..."

"Rightly so, but what about Israel?"

"Biden is pro-Israel from way back when he was a senator; I reckon Biden was taken aback at criticism of the delay in reining in Netanyahu's killing spree from within his own party and that must have come as a surprise - to me that means the US may well have to revisit its pro-Israel policy of measuring one dead Israeli against 200 plus Palestinians - children included..."

"What about Pakistan?"

"Pakistan didn't interest Trump too much though he certainly bonded with The Khan but Pakistan interests Biden and I think this because Biden administration is reportedly trying to get us to do more in Afghanistan after US forces leave and there is talk of a base though our Foreign Minister has denied it and..."

"Does the US have any leverage with us anymore?"

"Hmmm, there is the G-7 infrastructure package to rival One Belt One Road, then there is free corona vaccines which we need as we have inoculated less than one percent of our people though you would not know that from what the Cabinet says and..."

"What about the old leverages - getting an IMF package without us adhering to the conditions, remember we got the US to get us an IMF package during was it the Zardari years? Then there is the matter of the US forces leaving Afghanistan which without an intra-Afghan peace deal would spill into our borders and..."

"So Biden has only retained Trump's China policy - I mean he is back in with Europe too."

"That's right."

"So what's next?"

"Next we see where our chickens will come home to roost..."

"Chicken prices have not come down and..."

"There you go - there is no free meal as they say."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021