Pakistan has a civilian govt that is democratically elected: US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (SABAH): United States State Department Spokesperson Ned Price in his regular news briefing in Washington, said the governments of both countries share common interests in many areas.
Responding to a query, Ned Price said Pakistan has a civilian government that is democratically elected, is the main interlocutor in bilateral ties.
The US State Department spokesperson said the US and Pakistan continue to cooperate in various fields, including security and the economy.
Ned Price said that the United States values its longstanding cooperation with Pakistan.
Ned Price said that US Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman did have an opportunity to meet with the Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. He said that we meet with and speak with Pakistan’s officials regularly on a range of issues. But as is standard practice, we don’t delve into the details of those engagements always.
Responding to a question, he said that Deputy Secretary Sherman “did have the opportunity” to meet General Qamar Javed Bajwa in Washington last week.
“We value our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan. There are a number of areas where our interests are aligned,” he said, adding that Afghanistan and the security challenges that confront the region “are always there when we have high-level meetings with our Pakistani counterparts”.
The US and Pakistan, he said, “have a number of shared interests … there are security interests, there are economic interests, there are people-to-people ties and connections as well.”
Refraining from mentioning which of these interests were discussed in the Bajwa-Sherman meeting, he said that “Pakistan has a civilian government that is democratically elected and that’s our (principal) interlocutor.”
Answering a question regarding measures to make sure that the flood relief assistance reaches to the deserving people, Ned Price said we have adequate tracking mechanisms in this context. USAID staff makes regular trips to monitor our programs in the field.
He said USAID staff members traveled to more than 10 flood-affected districts in Balochistan and Sindh provinces to assess not only the humanitarian conditions but also the response activities and to make sure that those response activities were meeting the humanitarian need.
He said that USAID also works with local partners and organisations that have extensive knowledge of the affected areas and population to make sure that the response activities meet the humanitarian needs.