ISLAMABAD – Pakistan and the United States are set to write anew chapter in friendship as top leaders of the two countries vowed toenhance partnership.
Yesterday, the White House said the trade ties between Pakistan and the USwere set to witness a new record this year.
In a statement after Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Donald Trump’stelephonic contact Thursday night, White House Deputy Press Secretary JuddDeere said: “The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengtheningthe United States-Pakistan trade relationship, which is on track to set anew record this year, as well as investment and people-to-people tiesbetween our countries.”
According State Bank of Pakistan figures this year, Pakistan’s exports toUS were recorded at $4032.998 million while the imports during the periodstood at $2092.864 million.
Last month Pakistan brought the US and Afghan Taliban back to the talks’table weeks after President Donald Trump called off the dialogue.
Government officials told The Nation that US was ‘positive’ towardsPakistan and there seemed a ‘change of heart’. “The talks between PM ImranKhan and President Trump promise good ties in the future,” said oneofficial.
Another official said high-level visits will be exchanged between Pakistanand the US to enhance partnership.
A visiting Afghan Taliban delegation met US special representative forAfghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad in an ‘official meeting’ in Islamabad. ForeignMinister Shah Mehmood Qureshi later said the official talks between theAfghan Taliban and the US will resume soon.
This was followed by release of two professors held captive by the AfghanTaliban. FM Qureshi said Pakistan had played an important role for therelease of Kevin King and Timothy Weeks.
Trump called PM Khan to acknowledge Pakistan’s efforts for the release ofthe professors – an American and the Australian.
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President Trump had halted the talks, aimed at a plan to withdraw US troopsfrom Afghanistan in exchange for Taliban security guarantees, following thedeath of a US soldier and 11 others in a Taliban bomb attack in Kabul.
After the successful US visits by PM Khan and army chief Qamar JavedGeneral Bajwa this year, President Trump had accepted an invitation tovisit Pakistan. When Prime Minister Imran Khan met President Trump at theWhite House on July 22, it was the first summit-level engagement betweenPakistan and the US since 2015. General Bajwa too held a meeting with theUS President. PM Khan and Trump met again later on the sidelines of theUnited Nations General Assembly in September.
They held comprehensive discussions with a focus on building a broad-basedand enduring partnership between Pakistan and the US and strengtheningcooperation between the two countries to bring peace, stability andeconomic prosperity in South Asia.
Prime Minister Khan had briefed President Trump about his vision ofsocio-economic development of Pakistan. He said that “peacefulneighbourhood” was a priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
He stressed that peace and stability in the region would allow Pakistan toharness its rich human resource potential to generate growth and spurregional connectivity. President Trump had then appreciated Prime MinisterKhan’s vision for peace in South Asia.
Since Imran Khan won the general election in 2018, he has called for“mutually beneficial” ties with America, while remaining an outspokencritic of US anti-terror tactics such as drone strikes.
After Donald Trump took office in 2017, his administration had adopted ahard line against Pakistan, accusing it of supporting militants andmisleading the US over the issue – the charges that Islamabad denies.
