Pompeo visits Pakistani, talks of reset

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Imran Khan met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Islamabad on Wednesday, saying he was “optimistic” he could reset the relationship with Washington after the U.S. suspended aid over the country’s alleged failure to combat militants.

“You know I’m a born optimist,” said Khan, a former star cricket player who was sworn in last month. “A sportsman always is an optimist. He steps on the field and he thinks he’s going to win.”

Pompeo spent just four hours in Pakistan, his first visit to the country. At the airport before leaving for neighboring India, he said he was “hopeful” that a foundation had been laid to move forward.

“We’ve still got a long way to go, lots more discussion to be had,” he said. “It’s time for us to begin to deliver on our joint commitment. … We’ve had lots of times where we’ve talked and made agreements, but we haven’t been able to actually execute those.”

Pompeo held meetings with Khan, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the powerful Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa.

“We talked about their new government, the opportunity to reset the relationship between our two countries across a broad spectrum, economic, business, commercial,” Pompeo said.

He said they also discussed “the work that we all know that we need to do to try to develop a peaceful resolution in Afghanistan that benefits certainly Afghanistan, but also the United States and Pakistan.”

“I’m hopeful that the foundation that we laid today will set the conditions for continued success as we start to move forward,” he said on the tarmac before leaving.

After leaving Washington en route to Islamabad on Tuesday, Pompeo told reporters that Pakistan still hasn’t done enough against terror groups to merit the resumption of U.S. security assistance.

“We certainly haven’t seen the progress that we would have hoped to have seen,” Pompeo told reporters on his plane. “Certainly not progress that would be sufficient for us to have advocated for turning back on that financial support.”

The U.S. State Department announced in January that it was suspending security assistance to Pakistan as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to escalate pressure on the government to prevent terrorist groups from finding safe harbor in the country. On Sunday, shortly before Pompeo left on his trip, the U.S. Defense Department said it was suspending $300 million in funding to Pakistan over its failure to take action against terror groups.

Pakistani officials — who say their own citizens and soldiers have been the biggest victims of terrorism — were angered by a State Department readout of a call Pompeo had with Khan last month. In that conversation, Pompeo “raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan,” according to the U.S. readout. Officials in Pakistan said the issue wasn’t discussed.

En route from Washington, Pompeo said the U.S. wanted to make clear its expectations of Pakistan to the new government, adding that the decision by the Defense Department wasn’t a surprise.

“Look, this wasn’t news to the Pakistanis,’’ Pompeo said. “The rationale for them not getting the money is very clear, it’s that we haven’t seen the progress that we need to see from them and the very reason for this trip is to try to articulate what it is our expectation is. We need Pakistan to seriously engage to help us get to the reconciliation we need in Afghanistan.”

Pompeo also announced his appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad, a veteran diplomat who is unpopular in Pakistan, as the new U.S. special adviser on Afghan reconciliation, which could further complicate relations with Islamabad.

Khalilzad “has been very critical of Pakistan in the past and his appointment will not help move things forward,” said Zahid Hussain, a defense analyst and the author of two books on militancy in the region.

Neither the U.S. nor Pakistan can afford a complete rupture in relations, but Hussain said Islamabad is frustrated that the relationship has been reduced to a single issue: Afghanistan.

“The United States seems only to see Pakistan through the prism of Afghanistan,” he said. “The main thing is we would like to be allies with the U.S. but with dignity.”