WASHINGTON: Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby on Tuesday said that the United States has a “healthy military-to-military relationship” with the Pakistani armed forces, adding that it expects to continue this relationship.
“We recognise that Pakistan plays a key role in the region,” Kirby said in response to a question from an Indian journalist about the change of government in Pakistan after a political crisis, during which former prime minister Imran Khan blamed the United States for his ouster.
Kirby began his response by saying he is not going to comment about domestic politics inside Pakistan. But he said that the US has shared interests with Pakistan with respect to security and stability in “that part of the world”.
“We recognise that Pakistan and the Pakistani people are themselves victims of terrorist attacks inside their own country. We recognise that we have shared interests with Pakistan with respect to security and stability in that part of the world,” the Pentagon spokesman added.
“We do have a healthy military-to-military relationship with the Pakistani armed forces. And we have every expectation that that will be able to continue to be the case.”
On Monday, soon after Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the prime minister, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had said a democratic Pakistan is critical to US interests.
“We support the peaceful upholding of constitutional democratic principles, we don’t support one political party over another,” she had said during a press briefing at the White House.
