US ambassador-designate seeks ‘rapprochement’ with Pakistan
Rejects Imran Khan’s ‘regime change’ narrative, says it is time to move forward
Islamabad: Ambassador-designate of the United States to Pakistan, Donald A. Blome, on Tuesday visited Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) and rang the ‘opening bell’ to begin the day’s trading.
Karachi business community’s representatives and senior officials of the government and the US embassy were also present on the occasion. Speaking briefly on the occasion, Blome said he would take measures for rapprochement between Pakistan and the US.
Pakistan, he said, was an important ally and the US valued its relations with the country.
A day earlier, the US ambassador had called on Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the Foreign Office and conveyed his country’s message of goodwill and cooperation on all important international issues.
Donald Blome was sworn in by the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R Sherman last month. In a tweet, she described him as a ‘stellar choice’ to build upon 75 years of US-Pakistan relations.
It is after almost four years that the US has sent a full-time ambassador to Pakistan to address the current trust deficit between the two countries and to work closely in various sectors including energy, business, education, culture, investment, health and tourism.
Blome’s predecessor David Hale left Islamabad in August 2018 and since then a Charge d’Affaires of the US was overseeing the ambassadorial tasks.
In a media interview, the US ambassador-designate, who is likely to present his credentials to President Arif Alvi later this week, said his country looked forward to having a productive two-way dialogue with the Pakistan government.
Blome said there was no truth in former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s claims of ‘regime change’ in Pakistan by the US. Washington has categorically rejected these accusations.
He called for dialogue and interaction with Pakistan at all levels, as both the countries have a history of mutual cooperation during the past 75 years.
Blome’s appointment in Islamabad comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the sidelines of the UN summit ‘Global Food Security Call to Action’ at the UN headquarters in May this year.