Pakistan asks US to restore military financing

Pakistan has asked the US to restore military financing and sales suspended by the administration of former President Donald Trump as a senior American official acknowledged the importance of this bilateral relationship in a key strategic region, the media reported.

"It is important that the US restores -- for Pakistan -- Foreign Military Financing and Foreign Military Sales, suspended by the previous administration," Dawn news quoted Islamabad's envoy to the US Masood Khan as saying said at a seminar in Washington on Thursday.

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US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Elizabeth Horst, however, focused on the need to help rebuild the troubled Pakistani economy and urged Islamabad to work with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to do so.

"The reforms that Pakistan and the IMF agreed to are not easy," she said.

"But it's crucial that Pakistan take these actions to bring the country back to sound financial footing, avoid falling into further debt, and grow Pakistan's economy."

Since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the Washington-Islamabad relationship has been stuck in a prolonged period of uncertainty, Dawn reported.

Intensified US competition with China has further strained Pakistan's relations with the US, as did the country's deteriorating economy.

But recently, there has been an increase in high-level diplomatic engagements and dialogues focused on trade, energy, education, health, and defence.

Ambassador Khan not only emphasised the need to rejuvenate once close relations between the US and Pakistan but also underlined the role Washington can play in easing tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Responding to a question, Ambassador Khan said that Pakistan placed its first order for Russian oil and did so in consultation with the US government.

He also spoke about the role Pakistan can play in bringing stability to Afghanistan.

Indo-Asian News Service