A robust relationship between Pakistan and the United States is not just significant but an imperative as its economic, security and diplomatic benefits span far beyond the two countries, Islamabad’s ambassador in Washington noted Friday.
“Each time our two countries have come together, we have produced success not only for ourselves , but for the wider world,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S. Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said, as he marked the South Asian country’s Independence Day on the sprawling embassy lawns.
He also cited Washington’s recognition of the shared strategic and economic objectives in the key bilateral relationship.
“As Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted, ‘We want a strategic partnership with Pakistan entrenched in economic ties,” Sheikh said, as he emphasized the vast potential for expansion in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
The Pakistani diplomat spoke as the United States develop close diplomatic and economic ties with Pakistan in the midst of Islamabad’s mediation role on the U.S.-Iran conflict.
President Donald Trump has publicly praised Pakistan’s diplomatic role as the chief mediator during the past several months, which saw the American and Iranian diplomats have their first diplomatic interface in Islamabad in nearly 50 years after Pakistan leveraged its close ties to both Washington and Tehran to realize the breakthrough.
Later, the interim peace deal reached between Washington and Tehran on June 17 was named “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.”
“Pakistan is important to the world. Our history is important, our geography is important, our stability is important, our defense is important, and our diplomacy is important,” Ambassador Sheikh remarked as he referred to the country’s central location at the heart of Central Asia, the Gulf, India and China.
Pakistan has also been central to counterterrorism in the region, particularly Afghanistan over the past two decades.
The Trump Administration has also committed to invest $500 million in development of rare earth minerals in Pakistan, while the bilateral trade has surpassed $9 billion, with the United States being Pakistan’s largest Pakistan trading partner.
The embassy celebration included tribute to Pakistan’s founders as Ambassador Sheikh unveiled a statue of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to mark his upcoming 150th birth anniversary.
The statue has been donated by the Quaid-e-Azam Foundation of Houston, and will be a permanent display at the embassy’s premises.
Ali Imran is a Washington-based journalist, who has worked for leading world news organizations as correspondent, expert and in editorial positions. He is a published author and poet.
