On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken congratulated newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and said that the two countries would work together for a long time.
When Imran Khan was ousted from office last week, a no-confidence vote took him out of the job. On Monday, Shehbaz became the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan.
In a statement released last night, Blinken said that Pakistan had been an important partner on a wide range of issues for nearly 75 years and that the US was grateful for their relationship.
We have noted the comments made by the @WhiteHouse on assumption of office by Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. We welcome U.S. reaffirmation of long-standing ties with Pakistan.
— Prime Minister’s Office (@PMO_PK) April 13, 2022
A strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan is important for both the United States and Pakistan, he said.
After hearing the statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said that cooperation with the United States is important. In a tweet, it said, “The new government wants to work constructively and positively with the United States to achieve our common goals of peace, security, and development in the region.”
The PMO also said that the relationship should be built on the principles of equality, mutual interest, and mutual benefit.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said that the US had a “healthy military-to-military relationship” with Pakistan’s armed forces and that “we have every expectation that that will be the case for a long time.” Blinken’s comments came a day after that.
“We know that Pakistan has a major role in the area. We understand that Pakistan and its people have been targeted by terrorists inside their own country, “he said more.
At a question about claims by the ousted premier that the US helped change the regime, Kirby said that the US would not talk about Pakistan’s internal politics.
Ex-PM Imran Khan said the US was trying to get rid of his government. This made things even worse between Islamabad and Washington. It’s said that a State Department official told Pakistan and the U.S. what would happen if a no-confidence vote against then Prime Minister Imran Khan failed. This is what he said he was based on.
Washington, D.C., denied the claim.
Relations with the United States had already been strained since February when Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan went to Moscow. This was because of Russia’s military attack on Ukraine at the same time.
As a result, Pakistan didn’t vote on a United Nations General Assembly resolution that called for Russia to leave Ukraine right away. The United States and its European allies had asked Islamabad to support the resolution, even though Pakistan didn’t want to.
As soon as the new government took office, they would try to make up with the US.
