ISLAMABAD: The United States government will continue to expand its security cooperation with Pakistan, which has always remained a priority for it, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said this week, signifying a thaw in frosty US-Pakistan ties.
Miller was responding to a reporter’s question regarding Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s letter to US President Biden on Sunday. In the letter, Sharif expressed Pakistan’s desire to work with the US for global peace and security.
The letter was in response to one sent by Biden last week in which the American president assured Sharif of his administration’s full support in tackling the key challenges facing his government.
“We will continue to work to expand the security partnership between the United States and Pakistan,” Miller said during a weekly press briefing on Wednesday.
“We have spoken to that a number of times from this podium. It’s been a priority for us and will continue to be so.”
In his letter to Biden, Sharif said Islamabad attached “key importance” to its relations with the United States, noting that both countries were working together on important initiatives in the fields of energy, climate change, agriculture, health and education.
Biden’s correspondence signified a major thaw in strained US-Pakistan relations following the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan in 2021 and the subsequent allegations by Pakistan’s former premier Imran Khan of a US conspiracy against his administration.
US officials vehemently rejected Khan’s allegations that they colluded with his political rivals and Pakistan’s powerful military to oust him from office via a parliamentary vote.
The American president’s letter marked a notable shift from Washington’s previously perceived indifference toward Pakistan, evident in the absence of direct communication with Khan’s government.