Pakistan, US agree to ‘stay engaged’ after Trump’s tough talk at UN meet

This was decided when Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met US Vice President Mike Pence on the side-lines of the United Nations General Assembly here on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said. 

“It was a good meeting,” Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua told reporters on the 45-minute meeting between Abbasi and Pence. She termed the progress made at the meeting as an ‘ice-breaker’. 

She said it was agreed that the United States would send a delegation to Pakistan in October to continue the talks. 

It was the highest contact between the two countries since Trump announced his new policy on Afghanistan and South Asia on August 21 in which he had warned Pakistan for its continued support to terrorist groups and warned Islamabad of consequences if it continues to do so. Trump had also asked India to play a greater role in war-torn Afghanistan, much to the dislike of Pakistan.

“It was agreed that the two countries would stay engaged with a constructive approach to achieve shared objectives of peace, stability and economic prosperity in the region,” the Foreign Office statement said.

Ahead of the meeting, Pakistani media had reported that Islamabad is ready with a tough diplomatic policy if the US imposes any sanctions on it or lowers Islamabad’s major non-NATO ally status over failure to crack down on militants. 

Meanwhile, the White House said that Vice President Pence had an “important conversation” with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Abbasi on the new South Asia strategy of President Trump. 

“The Vice President and Prime Minister Abbasi had an important conversation about the President’s South Asia strategy that was announced late last month,” the White House said.