ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will arrive in Washington on Saturday ahead of a meeting with US President Donald Trump, the state APP news agency reported, in a trip that the South Asian nation hopes will help restore trust and attract much-needed investment.
Khan will carry out “high-stake parleys with President Donald Trump on advancing Pakistan-US relations in the backdrop of improving climate of trust between the two countries,” the APP said.
“In what would be a Pakistani leader’s first visit to Washington in more than five years, the prime minister will also interact with top American lawmakers including Speaker of the House of Representatives and members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to develop understanding on some key regional and bilateral issues,” the agency said.
Last year, Trump cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance to Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of offering “nothing but lies and deceit” while giving safe haven to terrorists, a charge rejected by Islamabad.
Pakistan now hopes this week’s arrest of Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of a four-day militant attack on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008, will send the right signals to Trump, who welcomed the news on Twitter.
Khan will be accompanied to Washington by the powerful army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa who is expected to play a key role in behind-the-scenes discussions, with the military looking to persuade Washington to restore aid and cooperation.
Pakistani PM to arrive in Washington today ahead of Trump meeting
Pakistani PM to arrive in Washington today ahead of Trump meeting
- PM will be accompanied by Army Chief General Bajwa
- Pakistan hopes visit will rebuild trust, persuade US to restore aid
Pakistan Navy escorting ships on country’s own trade routes, not Strait of Hormuz— official
- Pakistan’s military announced this week that navy ships were escorting merchant vessels mid tensions in Strait of Hormuz
- Navy operation limited to merchant vessels traveling on the Karachi–Gulf and Karachi–Red Sea trade routes, clarifies official
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s navy is escorting merchant vessels along its own maritime routes and not on the Strait of Hormuz, a security official confirmed on Wednesday, amid a global energy crisis triggered by the key passageway’s closure.
Pakistani military’s media wing announced on Monday it had launched ‘Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr’ in which the country’s navy ships were escorting merchant vessels “to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national energy supplies and the security of sea lines of communication.”
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes. The US-Israeli war against Iran has halted tanker traffic on the key route. Iran has attacked several ships in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened any ships that try to pass through it.
A Pakistani security official stressed that the navy’s Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr is focused only on Pakistan’s own sea lines of communication, particularly the routes linking Karachi with the Gulf region and the Red Sea.
“Pakistan Navy is conducting escort operations for Pakistani vessels operating along the Karachi–Gulf and Karachi–Red Sea Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs),” the official told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media .
“These operations should not be misconstrued as escorting ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The military announced on Monday that the navy is conducting the operation to escort merchant vessels in close coordination with the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).
“With approximately 90 percent of Pakistan’s trade conducted via sea, the operation aims to ensure that vital sea routes remain safe, secure, and uninterrupted,” the military’s media wing said in its earlier statement.
Officials say the operation is intended to protect Pakistan’s commercial shipping and energy supplies while maintaining safe passage on critical maritime routes linking the country to global markets.
Pakistan has been hit hard by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the government forced to hike the price of petrol and diesel by Rs55 per liter on Friday.
Pakistan imports most of its fuel from the Gulf region. The sharp rise in global oil prices has forced Islamabad to evaluate its fuel stocks and take tough measures to conserve petroleum products as the Gulf war intensifies.
