Trump’s senior aide arrives in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador Alice Wells arrived in Pakistan this morning where she is due to meet some top officials of the government including the foreign minister, ARY News reported.

Ms Wells, who is US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, is also expected to hold a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Ambassador Alice Wells will visit Pakistan on 6 November. She will hold meetings with senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Dr Faisal has said on Twitter.

The Foreign Office spokesperson termed the visit a followup of the meeting held between Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo — part of the latest US outreach to the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“The aim would be to follow up on discussions between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo with a view to further strengthen bilateral relations. Ambassador Wells will also call on the finance minister,” Dr Faisal said.

During his visit to Washington, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met US President Donald Trump at the United Nations headquarters in New York. “I met with President Donald Trump at the reception where I had the opportunity to discuss Pak-US relations with him. I requested him that we have had cordial relations and need to rebuild them,” he said while speaking to a state-owned TV after the meeting.

He said that President Trump agreed and said they share the same belief as well, adding that he received a positive response from Mr Trump.