Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with Acting US Ambassador Natalie Baker on Tuesday to brief her on the Islamabad court suicide blast and Pakistan&rsquo;s ongoing counter-terrorism efforts. Baker, according to an official <a href="https://x.com/MOIofficialGoP/status/1990691880259194983?s=20" style="color:#0073e6;">statement</a> on X, condemned the attack and offered condolences to the families of the deceased, while recognizing Pakistan&rsquo;s &ldquo;significant sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.&rdquo; Naqvi said the attackers had intended to target the court but were stopped by security measures. &ldquo;All individuals involved in the attack have been traced, and the facilitators have been arrested. Investigations are being carried out from every angle,&rdquo; he said. The interior minister emphasized that negotiations and terrorist activities cannot proceed simultaneously and highlighted that Pakistan-US relations remain rooted in &ldquo;friendship and mutual trust.&rdquo; The acting ambassador praised Pakistan&rsquo;s counter-terrorism operations, noting the country&rsquo;s progress in tackling extremist threats. The meeting was attended by the Islamabad Police Inspector General and other senior officials.

Foreign Affairs

The acting US ambassador offers condolences to the families of those killed in the attack and praises Pakistan’s ongoing efforts in the fight against terrorism. 

Pakistan, US reaffirm cooperation after Islamabad court suicide blast

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump early on Wednesday praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir, terming the pair as &ldquo;great guy(s).&rdquo;&nbsp; The US president said that Pakistan&rsquo;s military head was given the title of field marshal because he is a &ldquo;great fighter.&rdquo; &ldquo;The Prime Minister of Pakistan is a great guy and the field marshal &hellip; You know, why he is a field marshal? He&#39;s a great fighter. He really is. He&#39;s a great guy too,&rdquo; Trump said while speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Luncheon in Gyeongju, South Korea.&nbsp; Speaking about how he stopped the conflict between the neighbors in May using trade, the US president said, &ldquo;I called Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi. I said, we can&#39;t make a trade deal with you. You&#39;re starting a war with Pakistan. We&#39;re not going to do it.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;And then I called Pakistan, I said, we&#39;re not going to do trade with you, because you&#39;re fighting with India,&rdquo; Trump added. He said that two days later both sides came and &ldquo;they said, we understand, and they stopped fighting.&rdquo; &ldquo;How is that? Isn&#39;t that amazing?&rdquo; the US president said. Trump has praised Pakistan&rsquo;s army chief and the prime minister numerous times. He had earlier said that the pair were &ldquo;great people,&rdquo; calling COAS Munir his &ldquo;favorite field marshal.&rdquo;

Trump has lately praised Pakistan’s army chief and the prime minister. He had earlier said that the pair were “great people,” calling the army chief his “favorite field marshal.” 

Trump lauds Pakistan PM, terms Field Marshal Munir a ‘great fighter’

ISLAMABAD: The United States (US) saw a growing opportunity to expand its strategic relationship with Pakistan, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday, emphasizing that the move was not aimed at undermining Washington&rsquo;s longstanding ties with India.&nbsp;Speaking to reporters aboard his flight to Doha, Rubio acknowledged that New Delhi had historically viewed US-Pakistan engagement with caution. But he stressed that Washington&rsquo;s diplomatic approach aimed to work &ldquo;pragmatically&rdquo; with multiple partners at once.&nbsp;&ldquo;We know they&rsquo;re concerned for obvious reasons because of the tensions that have existed between Pakistan and India historically,&rdquo; Rubio said. &ldquo;But, I think they have to understand we have to have relations with a lot of different countries.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;We see an opportunity to expand our strategic relationship with Pakistan,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;&ldquo;Our job is to try to figure out how many countries we can find how we can work with on things of common interest.&rdquo;&nbsp;Rubio said US officials had been &ldquo;fully aware of the challenges&rdquo; posed by Pakistan&rsquo;s tense rivalry with India but insisted that maintaining strong ties with one did not diminish the other.&nbsp;&ldquo;They [India] have some relationships with countries that we don&rsquo;t have relationships with. So, it&rsquo;s part of a mature, pragmatic foreign policy.&rdquo;&nbsp;Rubio said Washington had already begun working to rebuild ties with Islamabad before recent regional tensions prompted renewed dialogue.&nbsp;&ldquo;Even before that conflict had started, I had already reached out to them and said look, we are interested in rebuilding an alliance, a strategic partnership with you,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;He noted that the US-Pakistan relationship had long involved counterterrorism cooperation but suggested that both sides were now exploring broader areas of collaboration.&nbsp;&ldquo;We&rsquo;d like to expand it beyond that, if possible, and [we] understand that there&rsquo;ll be some difficulties and some challenges,&rdquo; Rubio said. &ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s a very encouraging thing that that relationship has strengthened the way that it has.&rdquo;&nbsp;Rubio repeatedly stressed that the US approach was a balancing act among multiple major regional powers.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have to have relations with a lot of different countries,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s our job.&rdquo;&nbsp;The Secretary was traveling to Doha for continued coordination on the Middle East ceasefire process, which he acknowledged remained fragile. &ldquo;Every night brings a new challenge,&rdquo; he said, adding that sustaining progress would require &ldquo;constant maintenance&rdquo; and continued high-level engagement.&nbsp;Rubio said he had just spoken with the Israeli Prime Minister before boarding and noted that more US officials would be deployed in the region in the coming days.

Americas

En route to Doha, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US sees opportunity to expand its strategic relationship with Pakistan, emphasizing it complements, not threatens, longstanding ties with India and seeks broader regional partnerships.

US seeks to broaden strategic partnership with Pakistan: Rubio

ISLAMABAD: The United States and Pakistan on Wednesday agreed to deepen cooperation in new areas of mutual interest, promoting precision agriculture and digital farming technologies to improve efficiency and sustainability. &nbsp; In a meeting held by Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain today with Acting US Ambassador to Pakistan Natalie A. Baker, the delegation from two countries met &ldquo;to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in the agriculture sector and increase agricultural trade between the two countries.&rdquo; According to a press release issued late on Wednesday, the minister appreciated the long-standing partnership between Pakistan and US in agriculture, food security, and research, noting that US has been a key partner in Pakistan&rsquo;s agricultural development. Major initiatives being implemented under Pak-US agricultural cooperation were also reviewed during the meeting, the press release said.&nbsp; It said that the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) side &ldquo;expressed interest in collaborating on genetic improvement programs for dairy and beef cattle to further enhance productivity and export competitiveness.&rdquo; &ldquo;Both sides agreed to deepen cooperation in new areas of mutual interest, including joint research for the development of hybrid and disease-resistant crop varieties, local vaccine production, livestock breed improvement, and agricultural mechanization,&rdquo; the press release said.&nbsp; It said that the discussion also focused on promoting precision agriculture and digital farming technologies to improve efficiency and sustainability.&nbsp; The minister emphasized Pakistan&rsquo;s keen interest in expanding its agricultural exports, particularly mangoes and horticultural products, to the US through improved compliance, certification, and export protocols, it added. The minister also reaffirmed Pakistan&rsquo;s commitment to advancing a resilient, sustainable, and technology-driven agriculture sector through continued collaboration with the US, thanking the US government for its &ldquo;consistent support and expressed confidence that this partnership will open new avenues for agricultural innovation, investment, and trade between the two countries.&rdquo;

Major initiatives being implemented under Pak-US agricultural cooperation were also reviewed during the meeting; Federal Minister Rana Tanveer appreciates the long-standing partnership between Pakistan, US in agriculture.

Pakistan, US deepen bilateral cooperation, agree to enhance agricultural trade

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump praised Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir during an address to senior American military leaders at Quantico, saying they had credited him with averting a devastating war with India.&nbsp;Speaking to 800 top officers, Trump said the two Pakistani leaders recently thanked him in Washington for helping prevent what could have been a catastrophic conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors.&nbsp;&ldquo;This man saved millions of lives because he saved the war from going on,&rdquo; Trump quoted them as saying. He recounted how tensions escalated after fighter jets were downed.&nbsp;&ldquo;They just shot down seven planes,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;It was starting, there was a lot of bad blood. That war was going to get very bad... very, very bad. But we stopped it. Millions saved.&rdquo;&nbsp;Trump claimed he used the threat of suspending trade to pressure both capitals into backing down. &ldquo;I said, &lsquo;You do this, there&rsquo;s not going to be any trade.&rsquo; And I stopped the war. It was raging for four days, but that was just the beginning.&rdquo;&nbsp;The crisis followed a militant attack in April in Indian-occupied Kashmir&rsquo;s Pahalgam, which killed at least 26 tourists. India accused Pakistan of orchestrating the assault, a charge Islamabad strongly denied while offering an independent investigation. The incident sparked a military exchange that left more than 70 people dead on both sides before a ceasefire took effect on May 10.&nbsp;Broadening his remarks beyond South Asia, Trump also highlighted what he described as his mediation successes in Africa, citing efforts to defuse tensions between Congo and Rwanda. He joked that even with such achievements, he would &ldquo;never get a Nobel Prize.&rdquo;&nbsp;Mixing humor with forceful assertions of American influence, Trump told the military gathering he took pride in &ldquo;saving millions&rdquo; through diplomacy and pressure tactics. &ldquo;It was a great thing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And I was very honored.&rdquo;

US president praises Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, saying they thanked him for helping avert a potentially devastating India-Pakistan war that ended in a ceasefire after four days.

Articles tagged with "Pakistan US Ties"

Pakistan, US reaffirm cooperation after Islamabad court suicide blast

Trump lauds Pakistan PM, terms Field Marshal Munir a ‘great fighter’

US seeks to broaden strategic partnership with Pakistan: Rubio

Pakistan, US deepen bilateral cooperation, agree to enhance agricultural trade

Trump praises Pakistan’s PM Sharif, Field Marshal Asim Munir at Quantico