Pakistan has welcomed the remarks made by US President Donald Trump on US-Pakistani bilateral ties while admitting that this was indeed a departure from his stance in the past. Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that it will look forward to engage with the US at the top leadership levels.
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"US President Donald Trump's remarks are indeed a departure from his tweets in January 2018. We look forward to positive engagement with the US at top leadership levels," spokesperson for the Pakistan government Muhammad Faisal said while addressing media on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants a “great relationship” with Pakistan and is looking forward to meeting the new leadership in that country.
— Rao Jee (@raoo512) January 3, 2019
"We want to have a great relationship with Pakistan, but they house the enemy, they take care of the enemy," he said. "We just can't do that. So, I look forward to meeting with the folks — and the new leadership in Pakistan. We will be doing that in the not-too-distant a future. I ended the $1.3 billion we paid, it's like water, we just do it," Trump said on Thursday.
The Trump administration understands that peace in Afghanistan cannot be established without the support of Pakistan. The good diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the US are important to an eventual peace in Afghanistan…. pic.twitter.com/Zs8AbxuTwe
— Andleeb Abbas (@AndleebAbbas) January 3, 2019
The bilateral relationship between the two countries took a hit last year when the Trump administration discontinued the $1.3 billion in foreign aid funds to Pakistan last year. In November 2018, Trump had accused Pakistan of not supporting the US war on terror while Imran Khan blamed the US policy for failure in Afghanistan and suggested introspection in its strategy in Afghanistan.
