ISLAMABAD, Sep 30 (NNI): It seems Islamabad’s charm offensive in New York and Washington has started to pay off with the US agreeing to and signing a $132 million debt relief agreement as the United States on Friday deferred the repayment of $132 million due to Pakistan.
The announcement was made in latest US embassy Tweet saying “Ambassador Blome Friday signed the second US-Pakistan bilateral agreement under the #G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, providing $132 million in US debt relief to Pakistan. Our priority is to redirect critical resources in Pakistan.” The second agreement was valued at $132 million in debt relief to Pakistan. “Our priority is to redirect critical resources in Pakistan,” it said.
Earlier, the US had enhanced its direct emergency assistance to Pakistan for flood relief to over $66 million.
The past few months have seen renewed engagement from Washington, which also approved a $450 million package for maintenance of Pakistan’s fleet of F-16 attack aircraft.
A day earlier, US Ambassador Donald Blome said that United States will continue to support Pakistan in diverse fields, especially for reconstruction and rehabilitation of flood-hit areas of the country. He said that people of the United States continue to stand with Pakistan. He said the strength of Pak-US friendship is demonstrated by more than 66 million dollars in U.S. support for flood response.
Ambassador Blome said, over past 75 years, the United States and Pakistan built a relationship based on mutual respect, shared goals and values. He further said that over the decades, more than 32 billion dollars in U.S. support benefited Pakistan and improved the lives of the people.
He said the rapidly changing world provides a pivotal opportunity to reframe relations between the two countries. He showed willingness to advance shared interests in trade, investment, clean energy, health, security, education, and other shared priorities.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the 75th anniversary of the Pak-US diplomatic relations. NNI
