By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Masood Khan, met President Joe Biden in the White House and the two discussed to reset bilateral ties, which had deteriorated in the past few years under former prime minister Imran Khan.
A statement issued by the Pakistan Embassy in the US said ambassador Khan visited the White House for a meet and greet and an official photograph with President Biden — an established tradition for newly appointed envoys. “The two also discussed building a strong basis for moving Pakistan-US ties forward.”
US-Pakistani ties had deteriorated in the past few years under former prime minister Imran Khan, who has been a strident opponent of America’s war on terror and Pakistan’s partnership in that war with Washington.
Ousted in a no-confidence vote in April this year, Khan accused the US administration of colluding with the opposition to remove him from power — a claim Washington and the new Pakistani government deny.
Pakistan’s new government has indicated it was seeking a new engagement with the US.
Last month, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the US and his country must move beyond past tensions.
The embassy statement said forty-six other ambassadors also were there to have official photographs with the President. They too had not been able to call the President for more than a year because of Covid restrictions.
Ambassador Khan arrived in Washington DC on March 25, 2022. On that day his credentials were received by the US chief of protocol, and he was designated as “Appointed Ambassador”.
On April 19, 2022, ambassador Khan’s credentials were formally accepted by President Biden. “The official photograph completes all formalities,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, sources said the new United States ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome will present his credentials to President Arif Alvi in July.
“A traditional ceremony would be held, where tradition horse carriage (baggi) would receive the US ambassador.”
President Biden nominated Blome as his top diplomat in Pakistan in October last year, almost three years after his predecessor David Hale left Islamabad in August 2018.
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