Bilawal, Blinken reaffirm mutual desire to strengthen Pak-US bilateral ties

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday reaffirmed their mutual desire to strengthen the bilateral relations by expanding cooperation in various fields.

Bilawal received a phone call from his US counterpart during which the minister told Blinken that he looked forward to “frequent exchange of high-level visits”, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

He also requested Blinken to ease issuance of visas for Pakistani nationals.

The two leaders also “discussed need for continuous engagement with the interim Afghan government to deal with the humanitarian crisis”, the statement said.

Bilawal also tweeted about his conversation with Blinken.

“We agreed to expand our engagement in trade, energy, health & security marking 75 years of our relationship. We must increase people-to-people & business-to-business contacts,” he said.

Separately, US Ambassador Donald Blome met Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, and discussed “matters of mutual interest”, the Foreign Office said.