Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent his key assistant from foreign policy to Washington as part of Pakistan’s efforts to reset links with the United States under the Trump administration.
Prime Minister Sayed Tariq Fatami’s special assistant is in the US capital and has held a series of meetings with Trump administration officials and influential congress members to open a sustainable communication channel with the new administration.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shafqat Ali Khan, confirmed on Thursday to journalists during his weekly briefing that Fatami’s visit was official.
Sources have said that the government had decided to send Fatami to Washington in order to get an idea of the ground situation with regard to Trump’s priorities.
Islamabad was supported by the fact that President Donald Trump congratulated Islamabad to help the United States capture one of the key facilitators in the August 2021 airport attack.
A statement published by the Pakistani Embassy in Washington said that Fatami, a former diplomat, had held a series of meetings with Trump administration officials.
According to a statement published by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, DC, the special assistant met Lisa Kenna and main director of the office of the Southern Asia and the National National Security Council of South Asia and Central Asia Ricky Gill. He also met the member of the Gregory Meeks classification congress, president, subcommittee on South and central Asia, the Bill Huizega Foreign Affairs Committee and Senator Jim Banks.
The press release indicates that discussions have taken place on means of promoting Pak-US bilateral relations, in particular cooperation in the fields of trade and investment. In addition, the regional situation and international issues have also been discussed.
During his meetings with American leaders, the special assistant underlined the economic priorities of the Government of Pakistan. He said government efforts have resulted in a clear improvement in economic indicators. He said that recognizing the improvement of economic indicators by the IMF and the World Bank is proof that the economy was moving in the right direction.
The special assistant said that trade and investment were among the main priorities in Pak-US relations. He said that there is an immense potential for promoting commercial and economic relations between the two countries, which will not only benefit businesses from the two countries, but will also have a positive impact on the region’s economy.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the special assistant had informed American leaders in government policies, in particular economic priorities. He explained that the promotion of bilateral relations, in particular in the fields of trade, the economy and investment, was among the main priorities of the government. Regional and international issues were also discussed at this meeting.
With regard to the introduction of a bill to the US Congress to request sanctions against Pakistan, the spokesman said that Pakistan was aware that the bill was tabled in the House of Representatives. “This is an initiative of a single individual legislator. We believe that the moment and the context of the bill do not align well with the current positive dynamics of Pakistani bilateral relations based on mutual respect, understanding and non-interference in affairs of each other,” noted Shafqat.
He said the bill will have to go through several committees to the House of Representatives and the Senate before passing. “We hope that the American Congress will continue its role of support in strengthening the ties of Pakistan and the concentration on the avenues of mutual collaboration which benefit both our peoples and our countries.
Pakistan remains attached to constitutionalism, the rule of law, the protection of human rights and the freedom of expression, because it considers democracy as a vehicle of prosperity and progress as a nation. As I mentioned earlier, it is an initiative of an individual legislator. This is not the position of the American government. “”
The spokesman also welcomed the recent assessment of the American intelligence community, declaring Pakistan of Tehreek-E-Taliban Prohibition (TTP) as a major threat.
During the recent visit to Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan in Kabul, the spokesman said that all the problems had been reported during his meetings with the Taliban management, but he would not explicitly mention TTP.
