US delegation to visit Pakistan as two sides seek to repair ties

U S State Department Counselor Derek Chollet will lead a delegation to Pakistan this week as Washington and Islamabad seek to repair ties strained under former Prime Minister Imran Khan

The U S delegation will visit Bangladesh and Pakistan from Feb 14-18 to meet with senior government officials civil society members and business leaders, the State Department said in a statement on Monday Khan, who was ousted in a noconfidence vote in parliament last April, had antagonized the United States throughout his tenure He welcomed the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 and accused Washington of being behind the attempt to oust him in 2022

Wa s h i n g t o n a n d P a k i s t a n ’s N a t i o n a l S e c u r i t y C o u n c i l , a b o d y o f t o p c i v i l a n d m i l i t a r y l e a d e r s , d i s m i s s e d h i s a c c u s a t i o n s K h a n w a s s u c c e e d e d a s p r i m e m i n i s t e r b y S h e h b a z S h a r i f T h e U S d e l e g a t i o n ’s v i s i t c o m e s a s t h e $ 3 5 0 - b i l l i o n economy of Pakistan is still reeling from devastating f l o o d s l a s t y e a r t h a t l e f t a t l e a s t 1 , 7 0 0 p e o p l e d e a d , and the government estimates rebuilding efforts will c o s t $ 1 6 b i l l i o n

The nuclear-armed nation is in the grip of a fullblown economic crisis Talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund were scheduled to resume online this week after 10 days of face-to-face discussions in Islamabad on how to keep the country afloat ended without a deal on Friday

The Dawn newspaper reported late in January that Pakistan had sought U S support to unlock the stalled IMF program that would release $1 1 billion to its strained economy as the country rebuilds “The delegation will also reaffirm the strong security cooperation between our nations, the State Department said on Monday Economic ties and cooperation to tackle the impact of climate change would be on the agenda in the meeting between U S and Pakistani officials the department added for the long-incarcerated MNA finally being released Every attempt was made to break Ali’s spirit and to keep him in jail but he has prevailed Justice cannot be denied forever ” he said on Twitter The National Commission for Human Rights said it was heartened to hear news of Wazir s release

The commission also shared a picture of the statement it released in June 2022 expressing concern over the humiliating treatment being meted out to the MNA

PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen also welcomed the news “The cruel system has turned our society into a prison, so congratulations on being released from a small prison to a big prison We will also break the chains of the bigger prison through resistance,” he said Former PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said it was a positive development “Even detention and difficulties could not break his resolve Where his detention exposed the constraints of this system, can we imagine that our establishment no longer wants to bear the burden of past mistakes? I wish it was so