ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has requested that US President Joe Biden pardon and release jailed Pakistani Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who was awarded an 86-year sentence for allegedly attacking US personnel in Afghanistan, it emerged on Friday. In a letter dated October 13, which has been seen by Dawn.com, the PM expressed his concerns about Dr Siddiqui’s “fragile mental and …
NEW YORK: US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu has hailed and expressed hope for a further improvement of the United States’ “strong relation” with the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government. Lu is the diplomat whose supposed warning to former Pakistan ambassador to the US Asad Majeed was the subject of a cipher sent by the envoy to Islamabad. It …
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan sought to upgrade the bilateral mechanisms with the US, particularly in the economic and defence fields after talks between the two sides during the visit of a Biden administration official to Islamabad on Monday. John Bass, the US acting under secretary for political affairs, travelled to Islamabad as part of his two-nation trip. As President Joe Biden’s term …
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met with U.S. Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta here on Friday. Wang, Chinese foreign minister and also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, noted that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and …
WASHINGTON: American Federal and State agencies are allegedly investigating two Pakistani American businessmen and their associates over suspected money-laundering, wire fraud and tax evasion for setting up dodgy company structures to launder the proceeds of purported black money, according to the investigators involved in the case. Federal investigating authorities in the US have reportedly confirmed that two companies, Riceland Investment …
ISLAMABAD: United States Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome has appreciated Pakistan’s decision to extend the stay of registered Afghan refugees by a year, a statement from the US embassy in Pakistan said on Friday. A large number of Afghan immigrants, with an estimated 1.7m undocumented as of October 2023, reside in Pakistan. Last October, the caretaker government had announced the repatriation of …
ISLAMABAD: US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday said Washington hasn’t held “any discussions” with Islamabad about Pakistani national Asif Merchant’s indictment over his alleged involvement in an Iranian plot to assassinate US politicians and government officials. Merchant, 46, sought to recruit people in the United States to carry out the plot in retaliation for the US killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ …
WASHINGTON: The United States has reaffirmed its commitment to preventing groups like the Pakistani Taliban from using Afghanistan as a base for launching terrorist attacks against neighbouring countries and countering their recruitment efforts. The statement comes in response to growing concerns over Afghanistan’s deteriorating security situation. A recent UN report revealed that terrorist groups, including the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are regaining strength and pose …
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan ruled out the possibility of sacrificing its relationship with China for the sake of improved relations with the United States, the Foreign Office said on Thursday, stressing that “Pakistan doesn’t believe in zero-sum relationships”. “For us, relations with the United States and relations with China are both important,” Foreign Office spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a weekly …
ISLAMABAD: Appreciating Pakistan’s contribution to counterterrorism, US Ambassador Donald Blome on Wednesday underlined the US commitment to supporting Pakistan in various areas, including countering regional threats, economic collaboration, renewable energy, climate management and education. He made these remarks at an international conference titled ‘Strengthening Pakistan-US Relations’ hosted by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) in collaboration with Beaconhouse National University (BNU) …