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United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Saturday said Washington and Islamabad were developing a “true friendship” as he lauded Pakistan’s role in the ongoing US-Iran peace negotiations.
With Pakistan acting as the official interlocutor between Washington and Tehran in the ongoing peace negotiations that resulted in the April 8 US-Iran ceasefire, Trump and his top officials have hailed Pakistan’s role several times.
At the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth was reminded of former director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks about Pakistan’s future missile capabilities potentially posing a threat to the US and was asked whether India’s Agni-VI missile programme posed a similar threat.
The question was posed after Hegseth, in his speech, had lauded US defence cooperation with Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asian countries, as well as India, which he termed a “critical anchor to hold the line”.
