By Aamir Ghauri & Tahir Khalil in The News, Dec 18, 2022
ISLAMABAD: The United States Central Command has expressed its resolve to continue strengthening its partnership with Pakistan to improve stability and combat shared threats across the region. This was stated by the head of the US CENTCOM General Michael Erik Kurilla in an exclusive interaction with the Jang Group.
Commenting on his recent visit to Pakistan during which he held meetings with the leaders of the Pakistan Army, General Kurilla said: “I had a great visit to Pakistan, where I had the opportunity to meet with Chief of the Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and observed security along the border with Afghanistan. I came away very impressed with the leadership of the Pakistan Armed Forces and the professionalism of the force.”
General Kurilla underscored the longstanding defence ties between Pakistan and the United States and said CENTCOM would remain committed to combating shared threats to regional security alongside the Pakistan Army. “CENTCOM views the US-Pakistan relationship through its own bilateral merits and its potential to improve stability across the region. We are committed to strengthening the military-to-military relationship.”
He said CENTCOM would continue to strengthen “our partnership” with Pakistan through training, joint exercises, and other defence cooperation efforts. “We are always open to discussions on mutual security concerns and opportunities to expand defence cooperation. We look for shared opportunities to continue working to address shared threats with Pakistan.”
It may be mentioned that the US general visited the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Thursday where he laid a floral wreath at the Martyrs Monument before calling on the COAS, General Asim Munir.
An ISPR statement said the meeting between the two generals was followed by a delegation-level meeting in which “matters of mutual interest, regional stability, security situation, defence and security cooperation particularly between military-to-military ties were discussed.”
The US delegates had also visited the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Torkham the same day where they were briefed on counter-terrorism and border management mechanisms along the Pak-Afghan border. The US official was asked for his comments on a possible role that the United States could play between Pakistan and India to resolve the long-standing issue of Kashmir, the US policy to ensure terrorists do not restart activities from inside Afghanistan, the US opinion about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and its possible solution. He, however, eluded answering the above queries by saying that such questions should rather be posed to the relevant US department.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1021257-us-to-continue-working-with-pakistan-to-combat-regional-threats
