Esper reaffirms long-term, mutually beneficial security partnership with Pakistan

US Defence Secretary calls COAS Bajwa

ISLAMABAD: United States Secretary of Defence Dr Mark T Esper reaffirmed long-term, mutually beneficial security partnership with Pakistan in a phone call to Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa late Thursday.

According to a press release, Esper reaffirmed US Defence Department's "commitment to a long-term, mutually beneficial security partnership with the government of Pakistan".

"Secretary Esper expressed his appreciation for Pakistan's support to the Afghanistan reconciliation process following February 29, 2020, US-Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Joint Declaration and signing of the US-Taliban Agreement," it added.

Esper also welcomed continued close cooperation with Pakistan in the future.

Hours after the phone call, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells announced USAID worth $1 million to help Pakistan combat the deadly virus.

And the U.S. and #Pakistan are longstanding partners in tackling global health challenges. There are 100+ recent Pakistani graduates of @CDCgov's epidemiology lab training on the ground investigating #COVID19 cases in #GilgitBaltistan & #Punjab right now. AGW #Partners4Prosperity

— State_SCA (@State_SCA) March 19, 2020

"The US-Pakistan government partnership is helping fight [the] COVID-19. The US government is responding to COVID-19 in Pakistan with [an] initial $1 million in USAID funding to bolster monitoring & rapid response," she wrote.

Wells emphasised that the two countries are longstanding partners in tackling global health challenges. "There are 100+ recent Pakistani graduates of US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's epidemiology lab training on the ground investigating COVID-19 cases in Gilgit Baltistan and Punjab right now."

The deadly pneumonia-like virus has claimed over 9,000 lives and infected over 200,000 people worldwide. In Pakistan, the COVID-19 tally of confirmed cases topped 450 late Thursday with Punjab and Balochistan reporting new cases.

The country saw its third coronavirus death on Friday with a patient passing away in Karachi.