US senator says no political engineering in Pakistan
Sen. Christopher Van Hollen (D-MD) prior to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington March 7, 2017. PHOTO: REUTERS
Senator Chris Van Hollen dismissed the impression that the United States was interfering in Pakistani politics as completely false, saying that Washington wanted a strong bilateral relationship with Islamabad, a US media report said on Sunday.
Van Hollen, a Democrat senator from the state of Maryland, stressed that it was the power and will of the people of Pakistan to choose the leadership and the US interest was in free and fair elections in any democratic country, including Pakistan.
“I have had good relations with President Joe Biden for a long time and I am also in constant contact with the current White House administration,” Van Hollen said, while speaking to journalists at an event organised by the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America in Washington.
“And I can say with full confidence that there has been no political engineering in Pakistan,” the senator added. He emphasised that the US government was seeking a very strong bilateral relationship with Pakistan and an example of the strong ties was the US help for the Pakistani flood victims.
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Senator van Hollen further said that it was the power and the will of the people of Pakistan to choose the leadership. For that, he added, it was necessary that the elections were free and fair. “The interest of the United States is to ensure free and fair elections … in any democratic country, including Pakistan.”
The US senator also claimed that Washington played a very important role in ensuring that Pakistan received a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He expressed the hope that the cordial bilateral relationship would guarantee stability and security around the world.
Senator van Hollen was the guest of honour at the event, which was also attended by Pakistan's Ambassador Masood Khan. On microblogging website, X, the ambassador tweeted that the event was recognised “the valuable contributions of physicians of Pakistani descent”.