State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel reacting to political unrest in the country after arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said a prosperous and strong, democratic Pakistan is critical for US interests.
Patel’s statement came in response to a question asked during a press briefing on Thursday about mushrooming political turmoil in the country post-Khan arrest.
“We are monitoring the situation in Pakistan closely, and as the US has said before, we do not have a favored candidate or a favored political party, not just in Pakistan but as it relates to any government system around the world,” Patel said.
He went on to say that our interest is a safe and secure, prosperous Pakistan. That is in the interest of US-Pakistan relations, and we call for the respect of democratic principles and the rule of law around the world.
Spox added we are looking to continue to strengthen economic ties between our two countries by expanding private sector trade and investment, and there’s also an important security collaboration and areas of collaboration on renewable energy, addressing the climate crisis, increasing agricultural trade, and a number of areas.
Commenting on the social media shutdown in the country by incumbents, Mr Vedant stated that the issues of human rights and press freedom were taken up with Pakistan.
