The Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed that Prime Minister Imran Khan will meet US President Donald Trump on July 22.
During his weekly press conference, FO Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal informed that Imran shall make his maiden trip to the United States on the invitation of US President Donald Trump this month.
He said the two leaders would review bilateral relations as well as discuss regional and international issues. This will be the first visit by Prime Minister Imran to the US since his party won the elections in July last year.
Just ahead of the visit, the US declared the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as a global terrorist organisation. The spokesperson hoped that the move would help shrink space for BLA to operate.
Dr Faisal added that Pakistan proposed July 14 to hold talks with India to finalise the agreement on Kartarpur Corridor.
During the moot, officials shall elaborate on a draft agreement to facilitate the movement of Sikh pilgrims and resolve outstanding technical issues related to the corridor’s alignment and infrastructure.
On June 27, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that Trump had extended an invitation to PM Imran. However, the prime minister could not travel to Washington earlier because of the budget session.
According to Qureshi, the US president expressed his desire to meet the premier to discuss “important regional matters”.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had told reporters last month that President Trump had invited the prime minister in June but he could not undertake the visit because of the budget session.
The foreign minister had also said that talks between the two leaders would focus on “important regional matters”. Pakistan has helped the United States in jumpstarting the ongoing US-Taliban dialogue.
Earlier on January 3, Trump had told a cabinet meeting that he wanted “to have a great relationship with Pakistan, but they house the enemy, they take care of the enemy".
“We just can’t do that. So, I look forward to meeting with the folks from — and the new leadership in Pakistan, we’ll be doing that in the not-too-distant future,” he had said.
Then in March, Trump had said he hoped to meet Pakistani leaders soon as he acknowledged that relations between the two countries are “now very good”.
“Pakistan — we’ll be meeting with Pakistan [leadership]. I think our relationship right now is very good with Pakistan,” he said.
Trump was consistent in his criticism of Pakistan after launching his South Asia and Afghanistan strategy in 2017.
In November 2018, a row that began with Trump's interview to Fox News had led to a series of tweets by both the US head of state and Prime Minister Imran.
President Trump, while talking about the reasons for ending the over a billion dollar annual aid for Pakistan at the beginning of 2018, had said the country didn’t do “a damn thing for us”.
Subsequently, Prime Minister Imran had led the sharp reaction by political leaders to Trump’s tirade against Pakistan by hinting at review of foreign policy options and asking the US president to introspect on the real reasons for America’s failure in Afghanistan.
Trump's stance, however, softened the next month with him acknowledging in a letter to the premier that the "war had cost both US and Pakistan".
Trump, in the letter, sought the government’s “assistance and facilitation in achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war”.
The United States now wants Islamabad to use its influence to persuade the Taliban to hold direct talks with the Afghan government.
The militants refuse to talk to Kabul, saying that it’s a “puppet government”, with no real powers.
Last week, Pakistan hosted an intra-Afghan meeting in Bhurban, which was seen as the first step towards making the Afghan government more acceptable to the militants.
Kabul sent its representatives to the meeting, although the Taliban opted to stay out.
