IT was a brave attempt. Our embassy in Washington, after having failed to stem the tsunami of the US Congressional vote on Resolution HR 901 (368 for, seven against) threw a mango party to influence Biden’s faltering administration.

The last time this friendly fruit had been used in our diplomacy was in the 1950s, when some mangoes grown in the Chinese embassy (then in Karachi) were sent to Chairman Mao Zedong.

Later, president Ziaul Haq tried to sweeten Mrs Indira Gandhi’s sourness with lychee juice. She remained unmoved. To her, it tasted of military blanco.

At the recent mango party in DC, the gu­­est of honour — Elizabeth Horst, principal deputy assistant secretary in the State De­­p­artment — spoke feelingly about the Pak-US “long-standing relationship” as being in “the best place it’s been in years”. She neglected to say that she was there out of official necessity, nor that she was on her way to Sri Lanka as the next US ambassador there.

Is the FO equipped to do its job?

Nor did she dilute the message by the bipartisan US House of Representatives, urging President Joe Biden “to collaborate with Pakistan in upholding democracy, human rights, and the rule of law”. The House assumes that 81-year-old Biden is........

© Dawn