ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday told United States Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla that Islamabad valued its relations with Washington and looked forward to further enhancing them in all fields, the Pakistani military said. 

The telephonic contact between two military commanders took place hours after media reported the army chief had appealed to Washington to use its leverage to secure the early release of International Monetary Fund (IMF) money. Pakistan's foreign office confirmed a phone conversation between US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and General Bajwa, but did not provide details.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, said the two military commanders discussed matters of mutual interests, regional stability as well as defense and security cooperation during Friday’s call. 

“Pakistan values its relations with US and we earnestly look forward to enhance mutually beneficial multi-domain relations based on common interests,” the ISPR quoted General Bajwa in a statement on Friday.

Both figures reiterated the desire to further enhance bilateral relations in all fields, according to the ISPR statement. 

The US CENTCOM commander appreciated Pakistan’s role in regional stability and pledged to “play his role for further improvement in cooperation with Pakistan at all levels,” it added. 

Pakistan and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement earlier this month to pave the way for the release of a tranche of $1.17 billion, but the lender is awaiting approval from its board that is not scheduled to meet until late August. 

The US is the largest shareholder in the IMF and has over the years worked closely with Pakistani army chiefs alongside civilian governments. 

However, the relations between the US and Pakistan have been at a lower ebb since former prime minister Imran Khan accused President Joe Biden’s administration of conspiring to oust him from power through a parliamentary vote of no-confidence vote in April. Washington has repeatedly denied the allegation.