Islamabad/July,21 : Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa is scheduled to interact with top US military leadership at the Pentagon during a three-day official working visit to Washington, reported Radio Pakistan quoting Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor.
The DG ISPR, while speaking to the media at the Pakistani embassy in Washington, said that the army chief would also accompany Prime Minister Imran Khan during his meeting with US President Donald Trump on Monday.Prime Minister Imran, accompanied by COAS Gen Bajwa and Maj Gen Ghafoor, arrived in Washington on Saturday for an official working visit.
Apparently, this is the first time that the country’s top generals will be accompanying the prime minister to a White House meeting with the US president.
Meanwhile leading Pakistan English national daily “Dawn” in a report quoted sources as saying that Gen Bajwa is expected to meet former acting defence secretary Patrick Shanahan, the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley and other senior officials during his visit to Pentagon.
This will be Gen Milley’s first meeting with a foreign military leader since his confirmation on Thursday by the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee.
The DG ISPR told reporters that the security situation in Pakistan is “far better now”, and added that the “sacrifices of [the] Pakistani nation and security forces have started yielding results”.
He said that with the erection of a fence along the Pak-Afghan border, border control was much better, and that the fence would help reduce terrorism-related incidents.
The ISPR spokesperson said that the main focus of security forces was the development of Balochistan and the restructuring of areas affected by terrorism in coordination with the civil administration, Radio Pakistan reported.
Gen Ghafoor also briefed the media on the escalation of tensions with India earlier this year as well as the overall security situation of Pakistan.
The DG ISPR “lauded the role of media in highlighting [a] positive image of the country abroad,” the report added.
