The United States has said that it is confident of Pakistan’s ability to keep its nuclear assets safe and secure, dismissing speculations stirred by President Joe Biden’s off-the-cuff remarks about the country’s nuclear programme.
“The United States is confident of Pakistan’s commitment and its ability to secure nuclear assets,” a US State Department spokesperson told journalists in Washington shortly after a meeting between Ambassador Masood Khan and Counselor Derek Chollet.
Chollet, a senior advisor to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was the first to break the news of the meeting, which came days after the Pakistan Foreign Office summoned the US ambassador in Islamabad to protest over President Biden’s remarks.
Chollet said in a tweet that he met Ambassador Khan “to discuss US-Pakistan long-standing partnership and (to) further grow our ties in so many areas including health, agriculture, education, entrepreneurship, energy and more for the benefit of our peoples and the region”.
Ambassador Khan posted a tweet as well, thanking Counselor Chollet for his constructive role, and stated that he had discussed with him “ways to build further resilience in Pakistan-US relations and boost strategic trust between the two countries”.
