President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday joined world leaders in congratulating U.S. President Barack Obama on his re-election to the White House. In his message, Mr. Zardari described Mr. Obama’s election to a second term as a clear reaffirmation by the American people of their confidence in his vision.
Mr. Zardari also expressed the hope of bilateral relations prospering during Mr. Obama’s second term in office. Further, he was confident that the leadership of the two countries would be able to further deepen and broaden bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect and mutual interests.
Pakistan-U.S. relations under the Obama regime have gone through phases of rough patch, primarily due to the drone attacks and the raid in Abbottabad that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (OBL). With the Obama White House using drones as a major weapon against terrorist hideouts in Pakistan, anti-Americanism is at an all-time high now in this country as the drone policy, like the OBL raid have raised issues of national sovereignty.
In fact, according to a BBC World Service poll conducted before each of the four television debates between the two candidates over the past four months, Pakistan is among the 21 countries that preferred Republican candidate Mitt Romney to Mr. Obama.
