Want to increase education, business opportunities: top US diplomat

KARACHI: US Consul General in Karachi Scott Urbom on Tuesday expressed his desire to increase education and business opportunities for the people and stressed the strengthening of economic and people-to-people ties between the United States and Pakistan.

Speaking to the media during his visit to Mazar-e-Quaid — the mausoleum of Pakistan's founder Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi on Wednesday — the top diplomat said: "I want to meet a lot of people on my visit to Sindh and Balochistan. I want to benefit from your ideas to strengthen Pakistan-US relations".

Urbom's remarks come after he officially took charge as Washington's consul general in the port city last month.

Pakistan and the US share a long history of bilateral relations involving cooperation in various domains including security, social uplift, business, etc.

Speaking on the bilateral ties between the two countries, he said that Washington supported Quaid-i-Azam's vision of a united, democratic and prosperous Pakistan.

Recalling his experience in the country, the diplomat noted that he has been in Pakistan only for a short time and praised the country's culture and hospitality.

Furthermore, commenting on the issue of climate change, the envoy remarked that both countries will tackle environmental challenges through the Green Alliance Framework — a bilateral initiative for cooperation in agriculture, clean energy, water and other sectors.

Urbom's statement follows the US State Department's strong condemnation of the recent terrorist attacks in Balochistan, which resulted in the deaths of over 50 people, including 14 security personnel.

Washington strongly condemned last week’s deadly attacks that targeted security officials and civilians, including the murder of 23 innocent civilians in Musakhail," US State Department's spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Separately, Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh recently held a telephone conversation with Congressman Tom Suozzi — who's also the chair of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus — to discuss bilateral relations.