State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel stated shortly after a meeting between Pakistan’s Ambassador to United States Masood Khan and Counsellor Derek Chollet, who serves as a senior policy advisor to the US Secretary of State.
While responding to a question during Daily Press Briefing of the State Department, Vedant Patel stated that US has always viewed secure and prosperous Pakistan as critical to US interests.
The Spokesperson said that the two countries enjoy a strong partnership and that the United States valued its longstanding cooperation with Pakistan.
He recalled recent high level visits on both sides including visit of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to the United States and the visit of Counselor Derek Chollet and Administrator USAID Samantha Power to Pakistan.
The spokesperson said this is a relationship we view as important and it’s something that we are really deeply engaged on.
The statement came five days after President Joe Biden questioned the safety of Islamabad’s nuclear programme.
After the meeting with Ambassador Masood, Counsellor Chollet, in a tweet, said that he met Ambassador Masood Khan to discuss US-Pakistan longstanding partnership and further grow our ties in so many areas including health, agriculture, education, entrepreneurship and energy for the benefit of our peoples and the region.
Ambassador Masood Khan, in his tweet, thanked Counsellor Chollet for his constructive role and said that he had discussed with him ways to build further resilience in Pak-US relations and boost strategic trust between the two countries.
Masood Khan expressed confidence that through high level visits, people to people exchanges and effective communication, bilateral relations would continue to be fortified.
