Pakistan denies US account of call to Khan about ‘terrorists’
Islamabad has denied there was discussion about militants operating in Pakistan in a recent call between Prime Minister Imran Khan and the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry called for the US to amend its statement but the State Department said it stood by its account.
Mr Pompeo is planning to visit Islamabad next month to meet Mr Khan, who was sworn in as prime minister last week.
The State Department’s account of the call said the secretary wished Mr Khan success and asked him to take “decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan”.
“The impression where they’re saying that they mentioned terrorists’ presence in Pakistan, that is against reality,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday. “I’m saying it with full confidence.”
On Thursday night, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted: “Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by US State Department on today’s phone call.
“There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected.”
But State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said there would be no correction in response to Pakistan’s complaint.
“I can only say we stand by our readout,” Ms Nauert said on Thursday, calling Pakistan “an important partner” in the region. “The secretary had a good call with the new prime minister and we look forward to having a good relationship with them in the future.”
US officials routinely raise the issue of the Taliban and other militants operating from safe havens in Pakistan, where they plot attacks on American and Afghan troops across the border. Pakistan regularly denies that the Afghan Taliban operates from its soil.
Mr Pompeo is expected to visit Islamabad on September 5, and is likely to be the first foreign dignitary to meet Mr Khan as prime minister.
He is well known for his criticism of US military policy in Afghanistan but he said after winning elections last week that he sought better relations with America after aid cuts and the suspension of US military training.
Ties with the US cooled in January when President Donald Trump accused Pakistan of lies and duplicity in the war on terrorism, suspending
The impression that they mentioned terrorists’ presence in Pakistan, that is against reality
military assistance worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Before the election, Mr Khan repeatedly blamed Pakistan’s participation in the US-led anti-terrorist campaign for the surge in terrorism on home soil over the past decade.
Mr Qureshi said Mr Pompeo’s visit could help improve bilateral relations between Washington and Islamabad, and that Pakistan also desired good neighbourly relations with India and other countries.
He called for an early resolution of the issue of Kashmir, which has been the cause of two of their three wars with India.