PM Shehbaz hails Pakistan’s ‘true and special relationship’ with Washington at event marking US 250th anniversary

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday hailed the “true and special relationship” between Pakistan and the United States, which has spanned nearly eight decades and covers bilateral interests in security, counter-terrorism, energy and science, among other fields. Addressing an event marking the US 250th anniversary, PM Shehbaz noted that Islamabad and Washington had “worked closely at the most consequential moments of our history, whether it be the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s or the global [war on terror] from 2001–2021”. “Last year, following India’s unprovoked aggression after the Pahalgam incident, it was President [Donald] Trump’s timely and most decisive intervention that resulted in a ceasefire between Pakistan and India on May 10, last year,” he said, referring to a brief four-day war between the nuclear-armed neighbours. “We shall forever remain grateful to President Trump for restoring peace in South Asia and saving millions of people. In this context, he will always be remembered as a man of peace.” Recalling the relationship between Islamabad and Washington, PM Shehbaz noted that the US was among the first countries to recognise Pakistan, when then-US president Harry Truman sent a congratulatory letter to Quaid-i-Azam. “Ours is a true and special relationship, spanning over nearly eight decades and encompassing cooperation not only in security and counter-terrorism, but equally so in trade, investment, agriculture, science, education, health, energy and people-to-people exchanges,” the premier said. More to follow.