Fatemi confirms he did not meet Trump's transition team

WASHINGTON: Special Aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi has said that there was no benefit in meeting members of the US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, ARY News reported.

He was speaking in a press conference in Washington.

Fatemi said that President-elect Donald Trump and his team is busy in the transition process and he could not meet them.

Sources earlier reported that Fatemi failed to meet any member of the transition team of the newly elected United States President Donald Trump during his visit to the country.

This was the first high profile visit of an envoy since the US Presidential elections on November 8. The visit also came after a telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Donald Trump.

Pakistan embassy in Washington, however, stated that Fatemi’s visit to the US cannot be termed a failure. It also claimed that the prime minister’s foreign affairs assistant met Trump’s close associates.

The spokesman of the foreign office has termed Fatemi’s visit to the United States as a “success”.

“We have made it clear to the United States that action is being taken against terrorist groups in the country,” he said.

He added that not a single military in the world having 0.2 million soldiers is fighting terrorists at the moment.

The PM’s assistant said that Pakistan is ready to play its role for peace in Afghanistan.

Fatemi said that the issue of human rights violations committed by Indian forces in occupied Kashmir was also raised in his trip to the United States.

“Pakistan will take its decisions on regional issues while keeping its merits into consideration,” Fatemi added.