US provides Pakistan audio of Pompeo’s phone call to Imran

ISLAMABAD: The US has provided Pakistan a recording of the phone conversation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo to settle an unseemly controversy over whether the American diplomat had raised the issue of terrorism during the call.

The row came ahead of Pompeo’s to Islamabad on September 5, when he will meet Khan. Pompeo will be accompanied by the US military chief, Gen Joseph Dunford, and defence secretary Jim Mattis had said the need to fight terror will be the “primary part” of their discussions with Pakistani leaders.

After Pompeo spoke to Khan on August 23, the US state department said he had called for “deci- sive action” by Pakistan against all terrorists. Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi disputed the account, saying it was “contrary to the facts”, but the state department stood by its account.

Pakistan categorically denied the US statement “till a copy of the tape recording of the conversation was provided to the Foreign Office by the state department”, The News daily reported on Friday.

The Nation newspaper quoted its sources as saying the US had sent a transcript of the conversation between Khan and Pompeo to Pakistan, which “clearly shows what was discussed”. The sources said the transcript had “embarrassed” the Pakistan government, which had challenged the state department’s statement.

The US sent the transcript to “satisfy” Pakistan that the state department’s statement was not incorrect, the sources added. Unnamed senior officials of the Foreign Office also said Pakistan had decided not to take the issue further and to bury it ahead of Pompeo’s visit.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said on Thursday Pakistan wanted to end the controversy over the phone call. “Politically, we need to move on,” he told a weekly news briefing.

Meanwhile, a senior Pentagon official has said the US wants to give Khan space to explore opportunities to improve ties with India. Many new governments want to improve the relationship with India after coming to power, but soon face realities and difficulties, assistant secretary of defence Randall Schriver said at an event in Washington.