President Trump to visit Pakistan ‘soon’, says FM Qureshi

Pakistan

In his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Davos, United States President Donald Trump assured he would visit Pakistan soon, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday.

Qureshi said several “important issues” were discussed in the hour-long “productive” meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Imran. The foreign minister said he was also present during the meeting, which was attended by Trump’s “entire team”.

Qureshi said the premier informed Trump of measures taken by Pakistan to get off the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list and also asked for US support on the matter. The premier also asked for improvements in US’ travel advisory to Pakistan, Qureshi added.

Prime Minister Imran also discussed the ongoing human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and Trump agreed that the “Kashmir dispute should have a solution”.

Trade was also discussed during the meeting and it was decided that a US trade delegation will visit Pakistan, the foreign minister said. He did not specify when the visit will take place, though.

The premier also conveyed Islamabad’s concerns over increasing tensions between the US and Iran and the impact of a confrontation on Pakistan. Both leaders also discussed the ongoing peace talks with Afghan Taliban.

President Trump, in a press talk before his meeting with Prime Minister Imran on Tuesday, had reiterated his long-standing offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum assembly in Davos.

This was the third time the two world leaders had met since the premier assumed office in July 2018.

On Tuesday, before the meeting with PM Imran, Trump had said that the United States has never been as close to Pakistan as it is right now.

The US president, while referring to Prime Minister Imran as his friend, had also said he would speak to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Kashmir issue. “We’re talking about Kashmir […] if we can help, we certainly will be helping. We’ve been watching that and following it very, very closely,” said Trump.

Prime Minister Imran, on the other hand, had said he would talk to President Trump on the situation in Afghanistan.

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