ISLAMABAD - United States President Donald Trump has asked Pakistan to achieve the peace goal in Afghanistan before his possible visit to Pakistan, diplomatic sources said.
The sources told The Nation that while the US President acknowledged the efforts of Pakistan regarding the US-Taliban talks, he believed “much needed to be done” on the Afghan front.
President Trump, the sources said, accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit Pakistan but hinted the visit would be at “appropriate” time when there is some big breakthrough on the Afghan peace. Pakistan is already supporting talks between the US and the Afghan Taliban.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan met President Donald Trump at the White House. This was the first summit-level engagement between Pakistan and the United States since 2015. Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammed Faisal said Pakistan was ready to welcome President Trump. He tweeted: “@POTUS (President Trump) accepts @ImranKhanPTI (PM Khan) invite to visit Pakistan. We welcome u (you) Mr President. #pakusnewdawn.”
PM Khan and President Trump held comprehensive discussions with a focus on building a broad-based and enduring partnership between Pakistan and the United States and strengthening cooperation between the two countries to bring peace, stability and economic prosperity in South Asia.
Prime Minister Khan reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continue to support the process in good faith. He added that pursuing the process was a shared responsibility.
The two leaders vowed to work together across a broad range of areas. Both leaders acknowledged the immense opportunity and potential for mutually beneficial collaboration in diverse fields such as trade, investment, energy, economic connectivity, and defense and security cooperation.
A foreign ministry statement issued here yesterday said Prime Minister Imran Khan met President Donald Trump at the White House which was the first summit-level engagement between Pakistan and the United States since 2015.
“The two leaders affirmed their resolve to work together across a broad range of areas. Both leaders acknowledged the immense opportunity and potential for mutually beneficial collaboration in diverse fields such as trade, investment, energy, economic connectivity, and defence and security cooperation. Prime Minister Khan invited the US corporate sector to invest in Pakistan. It was decided to establish a mechanism to follow-up on the understandings reached,” said the statement.
Prime Minister Khan briefed President Trump about his vision of socio-economic development of Pakistan. He said that “peaceful neighbourhood” was a priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy. He added that peace and stability in the region would allow Pakistan to harness its rich human resource potential to generate growth and spur regional connectivity.
President Trump appreciated Prime Minister Khan’s vision for peace in South Asia. The Prime Minister said Pakistan was convinced that normalisation of relations with India would be mutually beneficial for the two countries. He underlined that Pakistan would continue to pursue dialogue and diplomacy to resolve longstanding disputes, including the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir. President Trump expressed his readiness to play a facilitating role in resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
Pakistan’s delegation included the Foreign Minister, Chief of Army Staff, Inter-Services Intelligence chief, Advisors on Finance and Commerce, Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis, Foreign Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large on Investment and Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States.
“Prime Minister Khan extended a cordial invitation to President Trump for a visit to Pakistan. The President accepted the invitation,” the statement said.
Since Imran Khan won the general election about a year ago, he has called for “mutually beneficial” ties with America, while remaining an outspoken critic of US anti-terror tactics such as drone strikes.
PM Khan has previously said that US assistance was “minuscule” compared with what the US-led “war on terror” had cost Pakistan.
Since Donald Trump took office in 2017, his administration has adopted a hard line against Pakistan, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants and misleading the US over the issue - charges Islamabad denies. Trump began 2018 by promising on Twitter to end “foolish” aid to the country.
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” he said in a New Year tweet.
Pm Khan hit back saying: “Record needs to be put straight on Mr Trump’s tirade against Pakistan: 1. No Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but Pak decided to participate in US War on Terror. 2. Pakistan suffered 75,000 casualties in this war & over $123 bn was lost to economy. US “aid” was a miniscule $20 billion.”
However, a couple of months before that Twitter clash, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had already raised the prospect of a reset with the new government of PM Khan.
Diplomatic sources said the suspended aid could be released if the US shows satisfaction with Pakistan’s efforts against terror. “The US has told this to Pakistan in the recent high-level meetings,” said one source.