Afghan government says it sees change in Pakistan policy towards Afghanistan and finds the recent discussion with Pakistan productive.
Commenting on Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to US, spokesperson for the Presidential Palace, Sediq Sediqqi, said Khan sees a stable, democratic and peaceful Afghanistan in the national interest of Pakistan, but said major issue need detailed discussion and follow up.
He said that on the ground, nothing has changed as of yet. “The test for the Afghan people and the government will be momentum towards genuine and lasting peace and will be a linear process for normalization between the two sovereign states,” the spokesman added.
He furthered that terrorism is an existential threat to both countries and to the world, a credible and verifiable agreement in this area is essential for the building of trust and mutual confidence.
Imran Khan arrived in Washington early yesterday and will meet with President Trump, and leaders are expected to discuss counterterrorism, defense and trade. Khan’s first visit to Washington as Premier comes amid a chill in the allies’ relationship. The two first-term leaders have sparred over social media, and Trump last year suspended $300 million in aid to Pakistan over what US administration said Pakistan did nothing in the campaign of war on terror.
Tensions between Washington and Islamabad have been reached to its peak as even Donald Trump administration doesn’t care about his maiden visit.
Reports have now emerged pointing that not a single US official came to receive the Pakistan prime minister at the airport.
Khan, who had boarded a commercial flight instead of a private jet to cut down expenses, was instead received by Foreign Minister Fawad Qureshi at the Dulles International Airport.
The Pakistan Embassy in the US claimed that the PM was received by Senior Officials of the US State Department; however, no US official was seen in the video clip shared by the twitter handle.
Khan arrived in Washington for his three-day visit to meet President Donald Trump and is accompanied by Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, director-general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Faiz Hameed and advisor to Prime Minister for Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood.
