ISLAMABAD - The United States supports partnership with Pakistan, the US embassy said yesterday.
The US Department of State’s Counsellor Derek Chollet and a delegation of senior US government officials from the Department of State, Department of Defence, US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the White House National Security Council visited Islamabad and Karachi on September 7-9.
They met senior government officials, civil society members, and private sector leaders to commemorate 75 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and Pakistan, highlight the importance of our bilateral partnership, and reaffirm our shared goals.
While in Pakistan, Counsellor Chollet discussed a wide range of issues including strengthening trade and investment ties, cooperating to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis, advancing the bilateral health partnership, expanding our people-to-people connections, and conveying US solidarity with the Pakistani people in addressing the humanitarian crisis caused by destructive flooding throughout the country.
“The United States and Pakistan have a robust partnership based on decades of bilateral cooperation and support, and we look forward to strengthening our relationship in trade, investment, clean energy, health, security, education, and other shared priorities,” said Counsellor Chollet.
During his meetings, Counsellor Chollet offered condolences on behalf of the United States on the devastation caused by widespread flooding in Pakistan and emphasised US sympathy and support for people who have lost loved ones, livelihoods, and homes.
In his meeting with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Counsellor Chollet discussed the $53.1 million dollars in humanitarian assistance provided by the United States this year to support disaster resilience and flood response, with $50.1 million for emergency flood relief in addition to $3 million in programming provided earlier to bolster disaster resilience.
In Islamabad, Counsellor Chollet met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss strengthening the US-Pakistan bilateral relationship, including increased cooperation on trade and investment, climate, and health.
The Counsellor highlighted the strong bilateral health partnership between the United States and Pakistan, particularly the U.S. commitment to donate more than 77 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Pakistan.
Meeting with Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Counsellor Chollet discussed opportunities for the United States to support Pakistan’s flood response and US-Pakistan security cooperation.
As an example of that cooperation, the Counsellor informed Pakistani leadership that the Department of State had formally notified Congress of a $450 million Foreign Military Sales case for sustaining Pakistan’s F-16 fleet. The investment would retain interoperability with U.S. and partner forces in ongoing counterterrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations and signifies enduring U.S.-Pakistani partnership.
While in Karachi, Counsellor Chollet met with the Chief Minister of Sindh to discuss opportunities to expand US-Pakistan commercial partnerships and other shared priorities.
Counsellor Chollet emphasized the depth of existing commercial ties between both the countries, noting that the bilateral trade reached nearly $9 billion in 2021, and that the United States is Pakistan’s largest single export market and one of its largest sources of foreign investment, with US direct investment growing by 50 percent in the past year.
The US government is dedicated to expanding the full range of trade, security, education, people-to-people, and clean energy and health-related cooperation and ties between the Pakistani and American people to promote a more stable, secure, and prosperous future for both the nations, US embassy said.