ISLAMABAD: A senior State Department official said on Tuesday the Washington administration had no preference regarding Pakistani political leaders in elections, in response to a question about the American envoy's recent engagements with various political figures in Pakistan.
Ambassador Donald Blome visited Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, late last week, meeting key politicians in Multan and Lahore.
These interactions, including with former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Yousaf Raza Gilani, preceded Pakistan's general elections set for next February.
Local media also reported Blome's visit to a high-security prison in Rawalpindi to allegedly meet imprisoned ex-PM Imran Khan, charged with leaking state secrets.
However, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller sidestepped a query about this supposed meeting.
“I would – I would refer you to the embassy to – to comment on any meetings the ambassador has had,” he said while addressing a routine media briefing in Washington. “But as we have said a number of times, we do not take position – a position on candidates for political office in Pakistan or any other country.”
The US embassy in Pakistan confirmed the American ambassador’s engagements with “a broad range of Pakistani political actors” following the meetings.
“US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald A. Blome met in Multan with representatives of various political parties at a gathering hosted by former Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, and in Lahore with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) founder Jahangir Khan Tareen,” it said.
“They discussed the importance of free, fair elections and the right of the Pakistani people to choose their future leaders,” it added. “They also discussed the strengths of the US-Pakistan trade and investment relationship and the development of the US-Pakistan ‘Green Alliance’ framework.”
The statement did not mention any meeting with Khan who has accused the US of conspiring to topple his administration to punish him for pursuing an independent foreign policy.
US officials have repeatedly denied the claim.
State Department affirms US neutrality in Pakistani electoral politics following envoy’s engagements
https://arab.news/m8sjt
State Department affirms US neutrality in Pakistani electoral politics following envoy’s engagements
- Spokesperson Matthew Miller sidesteps query about Ambassador Blome’s rumored meeting with ex-PM Khan
- US embassy says the envoy discussed trade and investment with politicians within the ‘Green Alliance’ framework
Pakistani students stuck in Afghanistan permitted to go home
- The border between the countries has been shut since Oct. 12
- Worries remain for students about return after the winter break
JALALABAD: After three months, some Pakistani university students who were stuck in Afghanistan due to deadly clashes between the neighboring countries were “permitted to go back home,” Afghan border police said Monday.
“The students from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (northwest Pakistan) who were stuck on this side of the border, only they were permitted to cross and go to their homes,” said Abdullah Farooqi, Afghan border police spokesman.
The border has “not reopened” for other people, he said.
The land border has been shut since October 12, leaving many people with no affordable option of making it home.
“I am happy with the steps the Afghan government has taken to open the road for us, so that my friends and I will be able to return to our homes” during the winter break, Anees Afridi, a Pakistani medical student in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, told AFP.
However, worries remain for the hundreds of students about returning to Afghanistan after the break ends.
“If the road is still closed from that side (Pakistan), we will be forced to return to Afghanistan for our studies by air.”
Flights are prohibitively expensive for most, and smuggling routes also come at great risk.
Anees hopes that by the time they return for their studies “the road will be open on both sides through talks between the two governments.”
