{"id":2280,"date":"2019-07-25T08:19:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T08:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=2280"},"modified":"2019-07-25T08:19:04","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T08:19:04","slug":"jubilant-imran-promises-ruthless-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/pakistan\/jubilant-imran-promises-ruthless-accountability\/","title":{"rendered":"Jubilant Imran promises ruthless accountability"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"template__header  clearfix    modifier--open        px-1  \">\n<div class=\"    my-3  ml-sm-0  ml-1  block  sm-inline-block  float-none  sm-float-left\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"block  sm-inline-block  clearfix  float-none  sm-float-right\">\n<div class=\"social  hidden  sm-block    social--print    social--icon  social--black  social--flat      float-left    mr-1  my-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/print\/1496093\">\u00a0 <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"template__main  clearfix    modifier--open        px-1  modifier--widedefault  modifier--blockquote-center-narrow  \">\n<div class=\"story__content          pt-1  mt-1\">\n<figure class=\"media  eleven-twelfths  palm--one-whole  media--center    media--uneven  media--stretch\">\n<div class=\"media__item media__item--zoomable\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"media__caption  \">ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing the party workers who gathered to welcome him on his return from the United States.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe have to transform all institutions which had been destroyed by thieves who only want to loot Pakistan,\u201d he said while speaking to charged party workers who thronged Islamabad International Airport in the wee hours of Thursday morning to welcome him.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in Washington, thPM told members of the US Congress that Pakistan and the United States\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1495930\/pm-imran-meets-us-congress-members-says-time-for-a-different-relationship-with-united-states\">shared<\/a>\u00a0the same objective of reaching a peaceful solution in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>The need for better coordination between the US and Pakistan for restoring peace to the war-ravaged Afghanistan was also discussed at a meeting on Tuesday between PM Khan and US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo.<\/p>\n<p>The prime minister said that Pakistan would continue to work with the US to promote the Afghan peace process, but it would not be easy. Pakistan was trying its best to get the Taliban engaged not just with the US but also with the Afghan government and would continue to do so, said Mr Khan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecretary Pompeo emphasised the continued importance of the United States and Pakistan working together to advance shared priorities, including Pakistan\u2019s significant role in supporting the Afghan peace process and counterterrorism,\u201d said a statement issued by the US State Department after the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecretary Pompeo welcomed the occasion to discuss opportunities for enhanced cooperation including expanded trade and investment opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr Pompeo looked forward to continued progress from Pakistan on shared security priorities, including defeating terrorist organizations, which he hoped would form the basis of a reinvigorated partnership, the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>This was a follow-up on their Sept 5, 2018 meeting in Islamabad and took place at the Pakistani ambassador\u2019s residence in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the formal setting of the ambassador\u2019s residence, the meeting on the Hill outside the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi\u2019s office was informal and friendly. It was organised by the Pakistan caucus, which is co-chaired by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat, and Congressman James Banks, a Republican. The caucus made elaborate arrangements for PM Khan\u2019s first visit to the Hill, with halal food \u2014 sushi and vegetable samosas included \u2014 arranged neatly on one side, and non-alcoholic drinks on the other.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the PM\u2019s address, Speaker Pelosi told the audience how she was introduced to Pakistan as an undergrad, when another student, dressed in a sari, asked her to read books on Mohammad Ali Jinnah. That woman was Naila Ahmed, the daughter of former ambassador Aziz Ahmed. Reading those books taught her the \u201cgreatness of statesmanship\u201d and made her realise that the relationship between Pakistan and the US was \u201cimportant\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The prime minister said Pakistan was trying its best to get the Taliban engaged not just with the US but also with the Afghan government and would continue to do so. \u201cThe whole country is standing behind me, the Pakistan Army, the security forces, all are behind me. We all have one object and it is exactly the same objective as the US, which is to have a peaceful solution as quickly as possible in Afghanistan,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>PM Khan said his meetings with President Donald Trump and Secretary Pompeo were very encouraging and he told them that moving forward the bilateral relationship required mutual trust. \u201cI hope that from now onwards our relationship is on a different level,\u201d he said, noting that unfortunately over the past 40 years, specifically the last 15 years, a lot of misunderstandings had developed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo what I hope is that by the time I leave, I would have made people here understand our point of view,\u201d he said, explaining that 70,000 Pakistanis had been killed and billions of dollars were lost when the country was \u201cfighting the US War on Terror\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPakistan had nothing to do with 9\/11. Al Qaeda was in Afghanistan. There were no militant Taliban in Pakistan. But we joined the US war,\u201d he said, adding that 40 different militant groups were operating in Pakistan and the governments weren\u2019t in control.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, while the US expected us to do more and help [the] US win the war, Pakistan was at that time was fighting for its own existence\u201d and felt that their sacrifices were not appreciated, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hope from now onwards our relationship will be completely different and rest assured I will make sure that our relationship is now based on truth \u2026 and mutual respect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing the party workers who gathered to welcome him on his return from the United States. \u201cWe have to transform all institutions which had been destroyed by thieves who only want to loot Pakistan,\u201d he said while speaking to charged party workers who thronged Islamabad International Airport in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan","category-politics","post_format-post-format-aside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}