ISLAMABAD: US State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet on Sunday termed his three-day visit to Pakistan as “very productive” and expressed hope for a strengthened bilateral relationship in trade, investment, clean energy, health, security, education.
The US Embassy in Islamabad stated in a statement released on Sunday following Mr. Chollet’s visit to Pakistan that the US and Pakistan had a strong alliance built on years of bilateral cooperation and support.
Proud to lead an interagency delegation to Pakistan to show U.S. support. In addition to sharing our condolences, I was able to discuss the United States’ pledge of $53.1 M in humanitarian assistance & disaster resilience. #PakUSAt75 https://t.co/PjRQukWonB
— Derek Chollet (@CounselorDOS) September 11, 2022
From September 7 to September 9, Mr. Chollet and a delegation of senior US government officials from the Department of State, Department of Defense, US Agency for International Development, and White House National Security Council travelled to Pakistan. While here, they met with senior government officials, members of civil society, and representatives of the private sector to commemorate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations and to emphasize the significance of bilateral partnerships.
Mr. Chollet met with Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of the Army Staff, and discussed ways that the US could assist Pakistan in responding to the floods and fostering security cooperation.
Mr. Chollet is also a senior policy adviser to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The US representative gave the Pakistani leadership an example of this cooperation by informing them that the Department of State had officially notified Congress of a $450 million foreign loan.
Mr. Chollet emphasized enhancing the US-Pakistan bilateral relationship, particularly expanded cooperation on commerce and investment, the environment, and health, during his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
He also emphasized the significant bilateral health cooperation between the two nations, including the US promise to provide Pakistan with more than 77 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The United States is Pakistan’s largest single export market and one of its largest sources of foreign investment, with US direct investment growing by 50% in the last year. Mr. Chollet, who was joined by an interagency delegation, emphasized the depth of the existing commercial ties between the two countries, noting that bilateral trade reached nearly $9 billion in 2021.
