Pakistan PM may visit US early next year

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to visit the US in the first quarter of next year when a meeting with incoming President Donald Trump would be included in his Washington engagements, media reports here said on Sunday.

The arrangement would be worked out through diplomatic channels soon after Trump assumes office on January 20, The News International reported.

Pakistan has decided to maintain its ties with the US on the cardinal principle of mutual respect while addressing each other’s concerns in a dignified manner once the Donald Trump administration is at the helm of affairs in Washington, the report said.

The Pakistan standpoint in this regard would be conveyed to thinktanks in the US later this week during Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi’s visit to Washington, it said.

Fatemi will also have extensive interaction with those likely to be part of Trump’s team in various departments, particularly in the State Department.

A significant meeting with one of the top officials of the US with Sharif will take place next month in Davos (Switzerland) on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the report noted.

The Foreign Office, however, was tight-lipped about Tariq Fatemi’s mission and Sharif ’s visit to the US.

Fatemi, who served in Washington for a long period of time in various capacities including as ambassador, had a detailed meeting with Sharif during the past week to seek guidance for the upcoming mission.