Washington D.C, 14 April 2022 (TDI): The US Department of State congratulated the newly-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif.
The US Department of State acknowledged 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries in a press statement. “Pakistan has been an important partner on wide-ranging mutual interests for nearly 75 years and we value our relationship”, the statement read.
Furthermore, it expressed US’s intention to continue the established cooperation with the Pakistani government. US Department of State said, “The United States congratulates newly-elected Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and we look forward to continuing our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan’s government.”
Finally, the department stated that “The United States views a strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan as essential for the interests of both of our countries”.
New Pakistani Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif took oath as Pakistan’s 23rd prime minister on April 11. He was elected after the former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted in a vote of no-confidence. Since then, he has received congratulatory messages from heads of state around the world.
States including Russia, China, India, Palestine, Turkey, the UAE, and Germany expressed readiness to work with the new administration.
Pakistan-US ties
Pakistan-US ties hit a low as the outgoing Prime Minister Imran Khan blamed his ouster on a US conspiracy. However, the political relations between the two countries have often seen highs and lows throughout their 75-year diplomatic history. Meanwhile, relations in the areas of trade, commerce, culture, education, health, development cooperation, science, and people-to-people ties are steadily growing.
Moreover, the United States recently delivered more vaccines to Pakistan to strengthen its fight against the Covid19 pandemic.
In addition, US foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan was $256 million in 2019, a 73.0% increase from the previous year. Moreover, the US imported goods from Pakistan worth $3.9 billion in 2019.
These goods mainly included textile articles, knit apparel, woven apparel ($607 million), cotton, and leather products
