Pak, US working on Imran-trump summit proposal
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new leadership has privately expressed delight over what it sees is a change in the policy of the Donald Trump administration favouring Islamabad over New Delhi.
While Trump ridiculed India’s role in Afghanistan in a tweet, he later hinted at a possible meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan when he said at a cabinet meeting, “I look forward to meeting the folks from the new leadership in Pakistan [and] we will be doing that in not-too-distant future.”
Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said Islamabad was looking forward to a “positive engagement” with Washington. “President Trump’s remarks are indeed a departure from his tweet of 1 January, 2018,” Faisal said at weekly news briefing.
Local media reported that Pakistan and the US are discussing a proposal about arranging the maiden meeting between Imran and Trump.
But the meeting hinges on a positive outcome from ongoing efforts to strike a peace deal in Afghanistan, a senior official said, adding that Imran is likely to travel to the US if “all goes well.”
Pakistan is hopeful of a positive outcome following a whirl- wind tour by its foreign minister to world capitals to work out a settlement.
Faisal said the recent visit of foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to Kabul, Tehran, Moscow and Beijing was part of Pakistan’s efforts to build regional consensus on Afghanistan.
‘NO MORE ON-ARRIVAL VISAS FOR AFGHANS’
Pakistan on Thursday abolished the long-standing facility of on-arrival visas for Afghan nationals, authorities said, citing security risks amid a spike in terror attacks. Earlier, Afghan nationals were granted a 30-day visa on arrival at the entry points, but now they will be required to apply for a visa from Pakistani missions in Afghanistan.
US ENVOYS DUE IN BEIJING FOR TALKS
The Chinese government said American envoys will visit Beijing on Monday for talks on resolving a tariff fight that threatens to hobble global economic growth.
The two days of talks are aimed at carrying out last month’s agreement between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to postpone new tariff hikes, the ministry of commerce announced on Friday.