ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States have reaffirmed their resolve to build a broad-based and mutually-beneficial partnership. The understanding came at a meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
During the joint press conference, Trump a third time offered to arbitrate between Pakistan and India on Kashmir dispute.
“If I can help, I will certainly do that. If both (Pakistan and India) want, I am ready, willing and able to do it,” he said.
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Prime Minister Khan appreciated President Trump’s continued offers of assistance in mediating the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Describing India’s draconian lockdown in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir as a dire humanitarian crisis with implications for regional security, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of immediate lifting of the curfew and other restrictions and resolving the Kashmir dispute for durable peace and stability in South Asia.
The two leaders also reviewed the evolving regional peace and security scenario. They reiterated their shared interest in a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.
The US president said he had good relations with prime ministers of both the countries. He said mediation could not be carried out unless both the parties agreed to it.
To a query regarding relations between Pakistan and the US, he said, “People in my position have treated Pakistan very badly. I trust Pakistan but people before me didn’t, but they didn’t know what they were doing.”
On Sept 23, PM Imran Khan had said Pakistan had committed the biggest blunder by joining the United States war after the incident of 9/11.
“70,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives and 200 billion rupees lost to this war,” Imran Khan had said while giving interview to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
