White House confirms Imran’s meeting with Trump

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump will meet with Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House in Washington DC on July 22, the White House confirmed on Wednesday.

"President Donald J. Trump will welcome Prime Minister Imran Khan of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the White House on July 22, 2019," the White House said in a statement.

"The visit will focus on strengthening cooperation between the United States and Pakistan to bring peace, stability, and economic prosperity to a region that has seen far too much conflict," said the statement. It added that the two leaders would discuss several issues during their meeting, including "counterterrorism, defence, energy, and trade, with the goal of creating the conditions for a peaceful South Asia and an enduring partnershipbetween our two countries".

The press release on Wednesday evening helped clarify the confusion earlier created by statement from a US State Department spokesperson, who said the White House had not confirmed reports of a meeting between the two heads of state.

Earlier, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfikar Bukhari also confirmed the prime minister's visit to the US. Bukhari said the prime minister would depart for the US on July 20.

Imran Khan will be visiting the US for three days where he will be meeting with President Trump along with other top officials of the administration. Pakistan's embassy here also has not issued any meeting schedules, but the prime minister is supposed to address the diaspora and meet with the business community as well.