Pakistan urges US to restore military financing: Reports

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By  India Blooms News Service   Apr 29, 2023

Pakistan has urged Washington to restore military financing and sales suspended by the Trump administration as a senior US official acknowledged the importance of this bilateral relationship in a key strategic region, media reports said.

It is important that the US restores for Pakistan Foreign Military Financing and Foreign Military Sales, suspended by the previous administration, Masood Khan, Pakistans envoy in Washington, was quoted as saying by Dawn News at a seminar in Washington.

US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Elizabeth Horst, however, focused on the need to help rebuild the troubled Pakistani economy and urged Islamabad to work with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to do so.

The reforms that Pakistan and the IMF agreed to are not easy, she said. But its crucial that Pakistan take these actions to bring the country back to sound financial footing, avoid falling into further debt, and grow Pakistans economy.

Since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the US-Pakistan relationship has been stuck in a prolonged period of uncertainty. Intensified US competition with China has further strained Pakistans relations with the United States, as did the countrys deteriorating economy, reports Dawn News.