New Delhi:
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday arrived in the US on a three-day official trip. Along with foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the prime minister was welcomed by a large number of Pakistani Americans. Khan is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday during which the American leadership will press him to take “decisive and irreversible” actions against terrorist and militant groups operating from Pakistani soil and facilitate peace talks with the Taliban.
To cut his travel expenses, Khan arrived in the US abroad a commercial Qatar Airways flight and is staying at the official residence of the Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed Khan.
Khan is also scheduled to meet IMF acting chief David Lipton and World Bank President David Malpass.
He is scheduled to address a gathering of thousands of Pakistani Americans at capitol One Arena in downtown Washington DC on Sunday, July 21, and speak at the US Institute of Peace think-tank on July 23. This is after several decades that a visiting Pakistani leader has been welcomed by members of the Pakistani diaspora in such a large number.
However, ahead of the visit, a senior administration official ruled out lifting suspension of security aid to Pakistan unless it is sees sustained, decisive and irreversible action against terrorist and militant groups.
“As you know, we suspended security assistance to Pakistan in January 2018. And As of now, there’s no change to that policy,” the official said in response to a question.
“The purpose of the visit is to press for concrete cooperation from Pakistan to advance the Afghanistan peace process, and to encourage Pakistan to deepen and sustain its recent effort to crack down on terrorist and militants within its territory,” the senior administration official told reporters during a conference call.
