ISLAMABAD:Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan has said the prospects of Pakistan-US relations are bright and our ties are poised to grow in the future. He was speaking at a two-day conference organized by the US top think tank Atlantic Council, John Hopkins’s University, University of Lahore and Engro Corporation on ‘Future of Pakistan-US relations’ in Washington DC.
He said Pakistan-US relations now have been de-hyphenated from India and Afghanistan. He said Pakistan and the United States are developing a singular trajectory with responsibilities towards the broader region. The envoy said Pakistan and the US understand each other’s strategic calculus and imperative. While Pakistan has strong ties with China, it wants to have very robust ties with the United States in all fields.
Masood Khan said that in the past 75 years, Pakistan and the United States have evolved a legacy of cooperation in diverse fields. He said Pakistan benefitted economically and militarily from the US support and together they made the world safer through collaboration during the Cold War, by fighting terrorism, by contributing to UN peacekeeping and jointly conducting counter-piracy operations. The envoy said Pakistan has helped the US in massive evacuations from Afghanistan, whereas the US has delivered 79 million vaccine doses to help Pakistan fight the Covid-19 pandemic, making it the top donor to Pakistan.
He expressed the confidence that a harmonious strategic alignment between Pakistan and the United States will create a salutary environment for scaling up bilateral ties in the economic, technological and educational domains. Masood Khan cautioned that it would be a fatal mistake to ignore our obligations in South Asia in regard to conflict management and conflict resolution, regional deterrence, response mechanisms and strategic stability. He also called for reviving bilateral and multilateral diplomacy on Kashmir. He said in the security realm, the US and Pakistan are pursuing their shared interests to stabilize Afghanistan, counter terrorism and foster regional security.