US delegation visit Pakistan: To mend relations damaged under former prime minister Imran Khan, Washington, and Islamabad will send a mission to Pakistan this week, led by US state Department Counselor Derek Chollet.
The US team will meet with senior government officials, members of civil society, and business leaders in Bangladesh and Pakistan from February 14 to 18, according to a statement released by the State Department on Monday.
Khan’s no-confidence vote removed him from office in parliament last April after he had been torturing the United States throughout his entire reign. He praised the Taliban’s conquest of Afghanistan in 2021 and claimed that Washington was behind the 2022 coup attempt.
His allegations were denied by Washington and Pakistan’s National Security Council, an organization made up of senior civil and military officials. Shehbaz Sharif succeeded Khan as prime minister.
The US delegation’s visit comes as Pakistan’s $350 billion economy is still struggling to recover from last year’s disastrous floods, which claimed at least 1,700 lives. The cost of rebuilding is predicted by the government to be $16 billion.
The nation is currently experiencing a severe economic crisis. After ten days of in-person negotiations in Islamabad on how to keep the economy afloat came to an end on Friday without a settlement, discussions between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have now begun online.
Late in January, local media claimed that Pakistan had asked the US for assistance in resuming the IMF programme, which would have released $1.1 billion to the country’s struggling economy as it rebuilds.
Pak-US Defence Dialogue and Cooperation
The State Department stated on Monday that “the delegation will also underscore the strong security cooperation between our nations.”
According to the department, the meeting between US and Pakistani officials would also discuss ways to strengthen economic connections and work together to combat the effects of climate change.
Pak-US defence discussions
The second session of the mid-level defence dialogue between the two nations is currently taking place in Washington, DC, and will go until February 16.
Moreover, The dialogue’s first session, according to a statement from the Foreign Office, took place in Pakistan in January 2021.
According to the FO, the nation’s inter-agency delegation, led by the army’s chief of general staff, includes top representatives from the foreign ministry, Joint Staff Headquarters, and the three service headquarters.
The office of the undersecretary of defence is a representative of the US multi-agency team during the negotiations.
However, The conversations will include topics about bilateral defence and security cooperation.