Pakistan looks forward to work with Donald Trump: Foreign Office

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Thursday said as the country maintained a good and comprehensive relationship with the United States for the last several decades; it looked forward to work with the new US leadership for mutual benefit.

“Our comprehensive relations date back to several decades. It will remain our endeavor to further strengthen these relations, and we look forward to work with new leadership in US for mutual benefit,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria told a weekly press briefing here.

He said that Pakistani leadership has also congratulated President-elect Donald Trump over his victory in the US elections, adding, continued Pak-US cooperation was essential to fight terrorism as well as for regional peace.

Nafees Zakaria said that Pakistan and the United States, who enjoyed close relations with convergence of views on various regional and international matters, were also engaged in a strategic dialogue for enhanced cooperation in diverse areas.

To a question, he said, the United States considered Pakistan as its important partner with the two having relations on bilateral, regional and international fronts.

The Foreign Office Spokesperson also expressed Pakistan’s serious concern over the continued human rights violations by the Indian occupied forces in the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) and said over one million innocent Kashmiris have lost their lives in IoK since 1947.

“We salute the courage of Kashmiris,” he said and added that Pakistan would continue to extend its moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris, who were fighting for their just right of self-determination.

The Foreign Office Spokesperson also expressed Pakistan’s condemnation over the continued detention of Kashmiri leadership in IoK.

To another question, Nafees Zakaria said that Pakistan would continue to raise the issue of Kashmir bilaterally as well as at all regional and international fora till the just resolution of this dispute in accordance with UN resolutions and the aspirations of Kashmiri people.

In response to a question about India’s involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, he said, Pakistan has already given briefing to the UN Secretary General and the OIC member countries and would present more dossiers in this respect.

About the investigations into 2007 Samjhota Express incident, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said that India on this issue has not so far fulfilled its commitments, made at the highest level.