Islamabad December 12 2021: A 4-member delegation of the U.S. Senate — including Senators Angus King, Richard Burr, John Cornyn and Benjamin Sasse — called on Prime Minister Imran Khan, today.
All four Senators are members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, while Senator King is also member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
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Warmly welcoming the Senators, the Prime Minister underlined that Pakistan valued its long-standing relationship with the United States and was committed to expanding it in all spheres, particularly in the economic dimension. He hoped that the visits of Congressional delegations will help strengthen mutual understanding and forge closer people-to-people contacts.
The Senators reaffirmed their commitment to a stable and broad-based Pakistan-U.S. bilateral relationship. They emphasized that, given the size of Pakistan’s population as well as its geo-strategic location, the U.S. and Pakistan should make determined efforts to promote trade, investment and economic cooperation.
The Prime Minister reiterated that a deeper and stronger partnership between the two countries was mutually beneficial and critical for the region’s peace, security and prosperity. With regard to the evolving situation in Afghanistan, the Prime Minister emphasized that Pakistan and the U.S. must have deeper engagement to promote the shared objectives of peace, stability and economic development.
The Prime Minister particularly underscored the urgent need to support the Afghan people by taking all possible measures to prevent a humanitarian crisis and economic collapse.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the importance of closer cooperation to address the security threats in the region, including terrorism. Apprising the delegation about the continuation of egregious human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the Prime Minister underscored that the extremist and exclusionist policies of the RSS-inspired BJP were posing a threat to regional peace and security.
He stressed that the U.S. must play its role in the maintenance of peace and stability in the region. The Prime Minister underscored that, for its part, Pakistan remained ready to pursue measures that would reinforce peace, stability and prosperity in the region, if the enabling environment was created by India.
Recalling collective struggles of Pakistan and the U.S. over the decades in promoting peace and security globally, the Senators deeply appreciated Pakistan’s recent contribution in evacuation of the American nationals and others from Afghanistan post-15 August.
