On the eve of his inauguration as 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump has expressed the hope for improved US-Pakistan relations ahead.
The new US leader spoke briefly to Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States at a dinner hosted for foreign diplomats on Thursday.
According to a Radio Pakistan report, Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani said Trump pleasantly recalled his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after his November 8 election victory.
While exchanging greetings, Trump expressed good wishes fo the people of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, in an interview with GEO TV, Ambassador Jilani referred to Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s statement that Trump would like to use his deal-making experience to help resolve issues like the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.
Recently, Trump’s US Defense Secretary nominee James Mattis said he would like to develop cooperative ties with Pakistan in the fight against terror.
The US-Pakistan relations are considered a key to regional peace but suffered several setbacks during President Barack Obama’s presidency, as his administration viewed Pakistan through the prism of US interests in Afghanistan, and later ignored Islamabad’s security concerns vis-a-vis India as he sought closer relations with New Delhi as a counterbalance to China.
However, the policy did not work and while Pakistan has crushed terror groups on its soil, Afghanistan remains a fragile country despite years of US assistance.
