Pakistan desires strong ties with US, says Shah Mahmood Qureshi
Sep 22, 2021
New York [US], September 22 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Islamabad wants strong ties with the United States (US) amid the frayed ties between the two countries post messy military drawdown from Afghanistan.
Speaking at the session of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the minister said both Pakistan and the US have the ingredient to build a broad-based relationship between the two countries, reported Radio Pakistan.
This comes as the US has expressed its desire to reassess ties with Pakistan. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Congress last week that Washington is going to be looking at its ties with Pakistan in the coming weeks to formulate the role America wants Islamabad to play in the future of Afghanistan.
During his first testimony in Congress after the Taliban's takeover of Kabul, Blinken noted that Pakistan has "harboured" members of the Taliban including the terrorists from the proscribed Haqqani network.
During an interactive session in New York on Tuesday, Qureshi stated that Pakistan wants to leverage its connectivity infrastructure including China Pakistan Economic Corridor to enhance regional trade and economic integration.
The minister added Pakistan's climate-friendly energy policy offers opportunities for US companies specialised in clean and renewable energy.
Pakistan has shifted its focus from geo-politics to geo-economics and can work with the US through the development of Finance cooperation to general economic activity on the Afghanistan border, the minister added.
Qureshi's pitch to improve ties comes at a time when Washington is seen giving a cold shoulder to Islamabad.
Notably, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has not received any call from US President Joe Biden since assuming office. The Pakistan Prime Minister recently came to the defence of the US President by saying that Biden faced "unfair criticism" over withdrawal from Afghanistan and it was the "most sensible thing" to do.
"There was so much unfair criticism of President Biden, and what he did was the most sensible thing to do," said Khan, in an interview given to Russia Today last week.
