The second round of Pakistan-US Mid-Level Defence Dialogue is scheduled from today (February13-16) in Washington.
The first round of the dialogue was held in Pakistan in January 2021.
Pakistan’s inter-agency delegation, led by the chief of general staff, will comprise of senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Joint Staff Headquarters and three services headquarters, the foreign ministry said. The US multi-agency team will be represented by the Office of Undersecretary of Defence, it added.
“Issues of bilateral defence and security cooperation will be discussed during the defence dialogue,” the ministry elaborated. Recently, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had congratulated General Asim Munir on his appointment as the Pakistan Army Chief, noting that the two countries had a long-standing defence partnership. Austin discussed areas of mutual interest with Pakistan army chief as well as recent regional developments in a telephone call.“Today, I had the opportunity to congratulate General Asim Munir, Pakistan’s newly appointed Chief of Army Staff,” Austin said. “The United States and Pakistan have a long-standing defence partnership and I look forward to working with General Munir,” he had said in a tweet.
Relations between the two countries got further strained when former prime minister Imran Khan accused Washington of colluding with Pakistan’s political parties to oust him from power via a “foreign conspiracy.” The allegations were vehemently denied by Washington and Khan’s political rivals.
Despite the challenges, both nations have continued to engage in diplomatic and military cooperation.
