Islamabad: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday embarked on a three-day visit to the US where he will meet President Donald Trump at the White House on July 22.
According to the White House, Khan’s visit will focus on strengthening cooperation between Washington and Islamabad to bring peace, stability and economic prosperity to a region that has seen far too much conflict.
The two leaders will discuss several issues during their meeting, including “counterterrorism, defence, energy and trade, with the goal of creating the conditions for a peaceful South Asia and an enduring partnership between the two countries,” Geo News reported.
Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and the Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are accompanying Khan, making it the first time that Pakistan’s top generals will accompany a Prime Minister to a White House meeting with the US President, Dawn newspaper reported.
Diplomatic sources told the daily that Gen. Bajwa would meet US Defence Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and other senior officials during his visit to the Pentagon.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is already in Washington as part of the entourage, said there will be two separate meetings between Khan and Trump. The first one will be held in the Oval Office while the second one will take place in the Cabinet Room.
The Premier, Qureshi said, would also hold discussions with a delegation of the World Bank.
Following the state-level engagements, Khan would address the Pakistani community in the US during an event in the Capital One Arena in Washington, the Minister added.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo will also call on the Pakistani Prime Minister. Khan is also set to address a meeting at the US Institute of Peace and have lunch with newspaper editors.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief will also meet Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi before returning home on July 23.
Khan left for the US on a commercial Qatar Airways flight in a bid to save taxpayers’ money, said Naeemul Haq, one of his close aides.
According to Radio Pakistan, during Khan’s stopover in Doha, he was hosted by Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker. (IANS)
