F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has reaffirmed the Pakistan government’s desire to further strengthening bilateral cooperation with the United States in the key areas including trade and investment, energy, security, and climate change.
Prime Minister Kakar said this while talking to US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome who called on him at PM House in Islamabad on Friday.
Ambassador Blome congratulated the prime minister on assuming office and reaffirmed the United States’ desire for supporting Pakistan’s economic and development agenda.
PM Kakar said that Pakistan and the US enjoyed longstanding and broad-based relations, rooted in mutual respect, common interests and shared values. He emphasized that the caretaker government’s main responsibility is to assist the Election Commission of Pakistan in the electoral process and provide constitutional continuity during the period of democratic transition.
The prime minister expressed satisfaction over the current positive trajectory of bilateral ties and appreciated the United States’ role in helping Pakistan to stabilize its economy and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continue the reform agenda for achieving sustainable growth.
Noting the role that the US private sector has traditionally played in supporting Pakistan’s economic growth, Kakar hoped that more US companies would explore the investment opportunities, particularly to tap the vast potential for investment in Pakistan’s information technology sector.
Lauding the important contributions of the Pakistani-American community towards strengthening ties between the two countries, PM Kakar called for increasing people-to-people contacts between the two countries.
In a couple of posts uploaded by the US Embassy on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Ambassador Blome said during the meeting he urged the Pakistani government for “protection of religious minorities and continued partnership with International Monetary Fund (IMF) for economic recovery”.
The ambassador said “Delighted to meet with Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar today. Reaffirmed steadfast commitment to US-Pakistan relationship, support for free and fair elections, desire to work with and through US Pakistan Green Alliance to build for the future.”
It may be mentioned here that the US envoy is on kind of meetings spree. Before today’s meeting with Prime Minister Kakar, he met Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Thursday and discussed forthcoming general elections in Pakistan, urging the CEC to hold free, fair and transparent vote.
On Wednesday, last Donald Blome also held a meeting with Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani.