WASHINGTON: The Trump administration wants to give PM Imran Khan a chanceto improve bilateral ties with India, a Pentagon official said Thursday.

Randall G. Schriver, the assistant defence secretary for the United StatesDepartment of Defence’s (DoD) Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, alsocommented on how numerous previous governments in Pakistan have held adesire to develop better linkages with India but realised soon after cominginto power the realities and ongoing challenges.

Schriver, who was asked about the trilateral ties between the US, Pakistan,and India, referred to the stance US President Donald Trump took during hiselectoral campaign and after assuming office, saying: “We want to give him[PM Imran] space to find the opportunities to improve things with India.”

The Pentagon official, who was appointed by Trump in January this year, wasspeaking at an event organised by the Carnegie Endowment for InternationalPeace (CEIP) and moderated by Ashley J. Tellis, a fellow at theforeign-policy think tank.

Washington’s policy regarding Islamabad was quite unlikely to change, headmitted, clarifying that the comparison with the Trump administration’sstance pertained only to the Indo-Pak relations and not the US-Pakistanlinks.

The cut in the financial assistance provided to Pakistan was also expectedto continue, he added.