ISLAMABAD: The new US ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome showed Washington’s willingness to move on from the regime change debate by convening a strong two-way dialogue.
Donald Blome said the US is willing to engage in a robust two-way dialogue with Pakistan’s government, political parties, and civil society.
Former PM Imran Khan had launched a statewide campaign asking for “freedom” from foreign powers’ enslavement. As a result, rising anti-American sentiment emerged as the single most serious impediment to Washington’s ability to achieve its foreign policy goals in Pakistan.
The US Ambassador Blome reaffirmed the rejection of Khan’s “regime change” claim, saying Washington was “quite clear” about it.
“However, I believe that the best thing we can do in the future is to continue interacting at all levels of Pakistani society, as we have done for the past 75 years!” he said. He went on to say that the involvement would not be restricted to government officials, but also include political leaders, corporate leaders, civil society, and youth.
As part of this two-way dialogue, he said he will “listen to and understand” what’s going on here, “transfer that understanding” to Washington, and share US “ideas and perspectives as plainly and transparently as possible” with audiences here.
He added that beyond the polarisation in internal politics over US relations, Islamabad’s new government has always been ready to revive bilateral ties. The first chance presented itself in the form of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s invitation to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to attend a United Nations food security summit.
Bilawal and Blinken also met on the margins of the New York conference on May 18, the first high-level face-to-face communication between the two sides in months.
Ambassador Blome said that “a number of follow-ups” were being planned based on what the two foreign ministers said was on the agenda for their meeting.
“I’ll do some of that here,” he said, “and I expect we’ll see a variety of US visitors to Pakistan in the coming months to expand on it.”
US-Pakistan health discussion
The US and Pakistan are getting ready to start discussion on the health sector in Washington. This seems to be a step toward resuming formal bilateral talks that have been put on hold for a long time.
The envoy cited the two countries’ “partnership” in combating the global COVID-19 outbreak as an example of health collaboration.
To help Pakistan fight the pandemic, the US has given it more than 61 million doses of COVID vaccine, $69 million in money, and $9 million in other kinds of help.
“We can build on this effort not only in terms of support but also in terms of expanding private sector collaborations in the health sector,” the ambassador told the publication.
At that point, Ambassador Blome stated that he was “dedicated to fostering further development of our bilateral trade and investment,” similar to the emphasis on investment and trade during the foreign ministers’ meeting. He says that health, climate, and education are other areas where cooperation could be improved.
