USA: Ilhan Omar not travelling to Pakistan on government business

According to US State Department spokesman Ned Price, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s first trip to Pakistan was not funded by the US government.

During a news conference today, a top official responded to a question from a journalist.

“Pakistani PM Imran Khan is blaming America, and he has asked his people to continue protesting outside the White House, as you well know. On the other hand, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar met with Mr Khan in Islamabad only the other day. The meeting lasted about an hour and a half. Close friends of Mr Khan alleged that the United States is attempting to clear the air with Mr Khan. Supposedly representing Biden’s administration in Islamabad is Ilhan Omar, “the reporter had inquired.

“Representative Omar did not go to Pakistan on official US government business, so I’ll have to direct your inquiries to her office,” Price said.

Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to the US Congress, arrived in Islamabad earlier this week on a visit to Pakistan. Her stay in Pakistan will end on April 24.

President Dr Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Speaker of the National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Foreign Office officials, as well as Imran Khan, were among the notables she met.

There, she was informed of both the situation before and after the renewed understanding between the Pakistani and Indian troops to uphold the 2003 ceasefire deal, according to government sources.

Residents who had been affected by Indian shelling before the ceasefire had also come and recounted their stories of terror with the guests.

An uproar over Omar’s meeting with former Pakistani PM Khan, who says a Washington-backed conspiratorial plot overthrew his government, took centre stage on her first day in Pakistan. The government of the United States has disputed the assertions.

Imran Khan’s statements at public rallies have also declared that he will not bow to the United States while accusing his opponents of doing the same.

PTI’s Shireen Mazari claims that Omar and Khan addressed Islamophobia and other concerns during their meeting at Khan’s Bani Gala house.

As soon as the PTI chairman’s meeting with the American congressman was announced, politicians and social media users grilled him about it, recalling his condemnation of US officials meeting opposition members. When Rana Sanaullah, the newly elected interior minister, questioned Khan about his meeting with Omar, he set the tone for the debate.

Afterwards, Mazari retaliated by claiming that Omar was not a member of the US government.