Fatemi buoyed by ‘very good response’ of US officials

NEW YORK: Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi said he was “very satisfied” with his talks in Washington with key US officials and Congressional leaders in what he described as the first high-level contact with the Trump administration.

“I had very good response both from the State Department and at Capitol Hill -- the meetings were productive,” he told UN correspondents in a news briefing at the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations. Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, was also present.

Fatemi said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent him to get a sense of the Trump administration’s priorities for the South Asian region. In turn, he said, he briefed his interlocutors about Prime Minister Shehbaz’s focus on boosting economic growth, trade and investment to make the lives of Pakistani people better as well as to enhance cooperation with all the big powers to achieve those objectives. “We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration on areas of mutual benefit to further strengthen US-Pakistan relations,” he maintained.

During his two-day visit to the US capital, the Special Assistant met with Senior Bureau Official/Acting Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Lisa Kenna and Senior Director for South and Central Asia National Security Council Ricky Gill. He also met with Ranking Member Congressman Gregory Meeks, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on South and Central Asia, Congressman Bill Huizeng of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senator Jim Banks.

The special assistant said Pakistan’s population of 240 million and its youth bulge were important assets capable of driving national development as well as their role in the key IT sector. “The Pakistan government worked hard to stabilise the economy and put it on the path of growth. Inflation was down from 33pc to just 1.5pc, a feat achieved in one year,” he maintained. He also highlighted the recent staff-level agreement with the IMF for a new loan and the World Bank’s $20 billion investment in Pakistan over ten years. “The recognition of the improvement of economic indicators by the IMF and World Bank is proof that the economy is moving in the right direction,” he added.

Fatemi said that there was immense potential for promoting trade and economic relations between Pakistan and the US -- not only benefiting the businesses of both countries but it would also have a positive impact on the economy of the region. He also said that significant agreements in the economy, trade and investment would be concluded with the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the coming months. He said that the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) had been set up to provide a one-window operation to facilitate investors.

Replying to a question, he said China is Pakistan’s trusted friend and the two countries have close relations despite the change of governments on both sides amid a challenging international environment. “China continues to be an important development and strategic partner of Pakistan,” he said, adding that while maintaining its close friendship with China, Pakistan can also have good relations with the United States.

About an upsurge in terrorist attacks in Pakistan, he said they were being conducted by TTP and other terrorist groups based in Afghanistan. “The outfits now have sophisticated weapons left behind by the departing American troops as the Taliban closed in on Kabul in 2021.”

The special assistant said that Pakistan remains committed to upholding the UN-promised right of self-determination for Kashmiris and Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Fatemi met with United Nations General Assembly President Philemon Yang and briefed him about the Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and the denial of self-determination to the Kashmiri people.

The SAPM highlighted that the Pact for the Future adopted last year would contribute towards restoring international cooperation on several key domains. In this regard, he underlined Pakistan’s commitment to work with other developing countries on critical issues of development, finance debt and reform of the international financial architecture.

He briefed the President of the General Assembly about Pakistan’s priorities as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. In addition, he underscored that Pakistan supported a more democratic, representative, accountable, and transparent Security Council, achieved through a consensual and broad-based process that enjoyed the widest possible support of UN member states. The president of the General Assembly thanked the SAPM for Pakistan’s support towards the work of the General Assembly.