Pakistan disputes US account of call between Pompeo and new prime minister Khan

KARACHI, PAKISTAN: Pakistan has called for the US to amend what its foreign ministry described as a ‘factually incorrect’ account of a phone call between US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and new Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The row comes ahead of a planned visit by Pompeo to Islamabad in the first week of September to meet with Khan, who was sworn in as prime minister last week.

The US State Department readout of the call said Pompeo wished Khan success and also asked Khan to take ‘decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan’.

US officials regularly raise the issue of Taliban and other militants operating from safe havens in Pakistan, where they plot attacks on US and Afghan troops across the border.

Pakistan regularly denies that the Afghan Taliban operates from its soil.

And overnight on Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry asserted that the issue of militants never came up in the phone call between Pompeo and Khan.

“Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Dept on today’s phone call,” the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter.

“There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected.”

The US embassy in Islamabad could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pompeo is expected in Islamabad on Sept 5, and is likely to be the first foreign dignitary to meet with Khan since he was sworn in.

Khan is well known for his criticism of US military policy in Afghanistan, but he said after winning elections last week that he seeks better relations with the US after a series of aid cuts and the suspension of US military training . — Reuters