Key US lawmaker calls for rebuilding Pakistan ties

A key US senator has said that he has asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to urge President Joe Biden to have a conversation with Prime Minister Imran Khan in an effort to rebuild the relationship with Pakistan.

Speaking at a fundraising event on Sunday, Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, underscored the need for such conversations.

“I think it would serve us well to have such a conversation and, you know when we have these conversations, they are honest, and that means they are also transparent,” the senator said, referring to the request he had made to Secretary Blinken.

Such a course, he said, means “where there is agreement, we build upon it and where there is disagreement we talk about how do we get through that disagreement.”

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“I think there is an extraordinary moment in which this is a relationship that can be rebuilt to what it once was,”Senator Menendez said.

“And if we can rebuild on it we, I hope, we can expand on it — not just about Pakistan in the context of a military or security dimension, but much greater– talking about an incredibly large population that is very young; there is tremendous opportunity to build upon the economic dynamism that we create”, he said.

“And that’s what I look forward to be able to continue to promote as your US senator,” Menendez told members of the American-Pakistani Political Action Committee (APPAC).

The event took place at the residence of Dr. Tariq Ibrahim, an APPAC board member, in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

Dr Ijaz Ahmad, the president of APPAC, was among those present, as was Asad Chaudhry, another board member.