US terms Trump-Imran meeting successful

WASHINGTON: The US has declared the meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Imran Khan, a success adding that it was time to make progress on that.

Briefing the media on Thursday, the State Department spokesperson said the initial meeting gave the chance to the president and the secretary to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan to build a personal connection and rapport. "And now we think it's time to make progress on the success of this first meeting," the spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus said.

She noted that the prime minister has vowed to urge the Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government. "We are committed to peace in Afghanistan," she said adding, "We think that was an important step." Ortagus said that there are a number of issues that were discussed not only in the president's meeting but with the secretary's meeting as well, and "now is the time to build upon that meeting and to build upon those commitments."

Answering a question about two hostages held for quite sometime, and for which the prime minister had told the president that there was good news coming soon, the spokesperson said, "We take human lives incredibly seriously, and we will use every means available at our disposal to secure and to see the secure and safe return of American citizens who are held hostages abroad." She agreed that Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced the news and admitted that the administration was working closely with the Pakistanis on recovering the hostages. "We think his (PM Imran Khan) statements were helpful and we're, of course, hopeful that there will be some action proceeding those statements," the spokesperson said.

It is pertinent to mention that during the meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House on July 22, US President Donald Trump had offered to mediate the decades-long Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. “If I can help, I would love to be a mediator (on Kashmir dispute),” he stated. Trump continued that, I and Imran Khan, both are new leaders and Kashmir dispute can be resolved. We both can play a bigger role to resolve the Kashmir dispute. The resolution of Kashmir and Afghanistan issues will bring prosperity in the region.

Meanwhile, China said that it supports the constructive role of international community including the United States for bringing improvement in Pakistan-India relations through dialogue. At his regular news briefing in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Office spokesperson hoped that the two countries can peacefully settle the Kashmir issue and other bilateral disputes through dialogue and make concerted efforts to safeguard peace and stability in South Asia. The spokesperson said being neighbor to Pakistan and India, China sincerely hopes that the two countries can live in harmony.