COAS, US defense secy discuss regional security, military cooperation

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir, met the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

The US Secretary of Defense hosted the Pakistan Army chief, where the two officials discussed “recent regional security developments and potential areas for bilateral defense cooperation,” according to a short statement issued by the Pentagon.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State also stated that they look forward to partnering with the Pakistani government on regional security and defense cooperation.

During the press briefing yesterday, the spokesperson said that the U.S. has taken a number of steps to partner with Pakistan this year on anti-terrorism activities. “In March, the United States and Pakistan held a high level counterterrorism dialogue to discuss the shared terrorist threats facing our two countries and to develop strategies to cooperate in critical areas such as border security and countering financing of terrorism,” the spokesperson said adding, “We fund several counter terrorism capacity building programs in Pakistan focused on law-enforcement and justice and we look forward to carrying out that work.”