US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday will host Pakistan Army leader Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on the Pentagon for talks amidst symptoms and symptoms of stronger army engagement among the 2 countries. Last week, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari became withinside the city assembly pinnacle officers of the Biden Administration, consisting of Secretary of State Tony Blinken.
Bajwa can be accorded an “stronger honour cordon” on the riverside front of the Pentagon through Austin following which the 2 can be keeping a assembly on bilateral and nearby issues. America’s engagement with Pakistan, mainly with its army, has multiplied in current months. Last month, the United States introduced a $450 million F-sixteen fighter jet sustenance bundle for Pakistan — a flow that became broadly speculated as retaliation of India’s reluctance to criticise Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The F-sixteen bundle drew criticising from Indian outside affairs minister S. Jaishankar, who referred to as at the US to mirror on its dating with Pakistan, and located it ‘isn’t fooling anyone’ through claiming aid for Pak’s F-sixteen became supposed for counter-terrorism.
“At the stop of the day… to mention I am doing it for ‘counterterrorism’… you’re speaking of an plane of the functionality of a F-sixteen (and) every body is aware of wherein they’re deployed. You aren’t fooling all people through pronouncing those things,” he said. The US nation branch spokesperson Ned Price defended the decision. “We do not view our dating with Pakistan… our dating with India… when it comes to one another… each companions of ours with special factors of emphasis…” he said, responding to Jaishankar’s criticism.
“We appearance to each as companions, due to the fact we do have in lots of instances shared values. We do have in lots of instances shared interests. And the connection we’ve with India stands on its own. The dating we’ve with Pakistan stands on its own,” he said.