ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held his first face-to-face meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Friday in what is widely viewed as a significant diplomatic engagement amid renewed efforts by both countries to reshape their bilateral relationship.
The meeting at the State Department came just a few days after a US official hinted at a bilateral meeting between the two countries without elaborating on the schedule or the agenda earlier this week.
Dar is currently on an eight-day visit to the United States where he kept a busy schedule in New York where he chaired several high-profile United Nations Security Council meetings under Pakistan’s rotating presidency this month.
He highlighted the need for multilateralism, peaceful dispute resolution and his country’s own strategic concerns after an intense, four-day-long military standoff with India earlier this year amid Indian accusations of terrorism and its decision to cut off river water flows to Pakistan.
“This is the first face-to-face meeting between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and the United States,” the foreign office said in a statement. “The two leaders exchanged views on enhancing cooperation in economic, trade, counterterrorism and investment matters.”
