Pak Army chief Bajwa holds talks with top US commander

Pakistan values its relations with the US and earnestly looks forward to enhance mutually beneficial multi-domain relations, Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Saturday as he held telephonic talks with top US commander General Michael Erik Kurilla.

During the call, Gen Bajwa and Gen Kurilla, Commander United States (US) CENTCOM discussed matters of mutual interests, regional stability as well as defence and security cooperation in detail, according to a statement by the Pakistan Army.

The Pakistan Army chief said that his country was looking forward to deepening ties with the US.

"Pakistan values its relations with US and we earnestly look forward to enhance mutually beneficial multi-domain relations based on common interests,'' Gen Bajwa said.

The two army officials reiterated the desire to further enhance bilateral relations in all fields.

''The commander US CENTCOM acknowledged the professionalism of Pakistan Armed Forces and appreciated Pakistan's role in regional stability and pledged to play his role for further improvement in cooperation with Pakistan at all levels,'' the Army said.

Earlier this week, Gen Bajwa spoke over phone with the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and appealed to the White House and the US Treasury Department to push the IMF to immediately expedite the nearly USD 1.2 billion loan, state-run news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported, quoting sources in the Pakistan Army.

However, the Foreign Office feigned ignorance if the two leaders talked about economy even as it confirmed that Bajwa and Sherman had a telephonic conversation.

The International Monetary Fund has already granted Pakistan "staff-level approval" for the USD 1.17 loan in question on July 13, as the cash-strapped country faces the ignominy of a possible debt default due to its depleting foreign exchange reserves.

The Army chief's appeal comes in the wake of separate meetings between senior civilian Pakistani and American officials in July, none of which managed to negotiate an early disbursement of fund.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)