COAS begins maiden visit to US

General Munir scheduled to meet senior American military and govt officials

ISLAMABAD:

Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir on Sunday departed for his first official visit to the United States, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). In its brief statement, the military's media wing said General Munir is "scheduled to meet senior military and other government officials of the US".

The visit comes after senior US officials visited Pakistan last week. Last week, a senior Biden administration official dealing with refugee issues undertook a four-day trip to Islamabad in the first of a series of visits by American officials.

Julieta Valls Noyes, the US assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, stayed in the federal capital until Thursday.
At the conclusion of her visit on December 7, US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Tom West kicked off his trip to Islamabad. After his visit, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Horst, who is responsible for Pakistan, arrived here on December 9.

Read: US extends support to Pakistan amid TTP threat

The flurry of visits by American officials comes against the backdrop of Pakistan’s move to evict all illegal Afghans, rising tensions with the Afghan Taliban over the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the upcoming general elections in February.

“Pakistan and the United States continue to hold consultations on a range of issues. To advance these consultations, exchange of visits also takes place,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement while giving context of the visits.

Pakistan has launched a crackdown against the Afghans living in the country illegally, following the expiry of the October 31 deadline. Since then, the US has been in touch with Pakistan to ensure that Afghans, who were eligible for immigration to the US, were spared.

Read Illegal foreigners a threat to security: COAS

There are about 25, 000 Afghans, who according to Washington, are in Pakistan and waiting for their immigration to the US. These Afghans worked with the US during its military campaign in Afghanistan but after the US withdrawal, they were stuck in Pakistan, awaiting completion of immigration process.
The US has been working with Pakistan to find a workable solution to avoid such Afghans being deported to Afghanistan. It is also concerned that other than such Afghans, there are individuals such as musicians, artists, journalists and others who may be evicted.

The US is keen that such vulnerable Afghans are not touched either. Pakistani officials have said that their cases will be scrutinized accordingly. It has made it clear that in the first phase, only those Afghans are being sent back who do not have any legal status.

Tension between Pakistan and the Taliban government has been running high as Kabul refused to take decisive action against the TTP. The US is believed to have been worried that any escalation in tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban government would destabilize Afghanistan.