US says will not let 'propaganda' get in way of bilateral relationship with Pak

USSD spokesperson says the two countries have a broad-based bilateral relationship

The US State Department on Tuesday reaffirmed that Washington will not let "propaganda, misinformation and disinformation – lies" get in the way of any bilateral relationship, including the one it has with Pakistan.

These remarks were made by USSD Spokesperson Ned Price during a weekly press briefing in response to a question regarding former prime minister Imran Khan's tirade against the US, blaming it for his ouster from the government last month.

Shortly before his impending ouster from the government, ex-premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan had waved a secret letter at his public rally in Islamabad on March 27, claiming that there was an international conspiracy to topple his government.

He termed the no-confidence motion against him a “huge foreign conspiracy against Pakistan” and soon after revealed that the US had sent the ‘threatening letter’, despite earlier claims that he could not reveal the interfering country’s name as the results would be detrimental for Pakistan.

The US has repeatedly denied such claims and on April 23 welcomed the statement issued by the Pakistani National Security Committee (NSC) that rejected the claim of a 'foreign conspiracy' to topple former premier Imran Khan's government.

Read: EU desires to further strengthen bilateral ties with Pakistan

In response to another question about Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s meeting with US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken, Price said that both leaders had the opportunity to reflect on the 75th anniversary of US-Pakistani relations and talk about how the two countries can strengthen that cooperation going forward.

“It is a broad-based bilateral relationship. The secretary underscored the resolute US-Pakistan commitment to Afghan stability and to combating terrorism as well,” Price said.

“They also discussed ongoing engagement when it comes to our economic ties, trade and investment, climate, energy, health, and education,” he added.

The State Department spokesperson expressed hope that both leaders would have an opportunity to follow up on the discussions they had.

On a question regarding the possibility of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Lieutenant-General Nadeem Anjum meeting with Secretary Blinken during his stay in Washington, Price said he was not aware of such a meeting.

Regarding expanding relations between two countries based on an education exchange programme, Price said that "US’s educational exchange programme, whether it’s with Pakistan, whether it’s with any other country, is core element of our people-to-people ties."

“We’ve been fortunate to have Pakistanis studying here in this country. We have American students who’ve had the opportunity to study in Pakistan. Those types of exchanges are always helpful, are always valuable as we seek to understand our partners and, as Americans, seek to better understand the world, and as we have other countries better understand America,” the spokesperson added.