Prime Minister Imran Khan, addressing members of the US Congress in Washington on Tuesday, said that Pakistan has the same objective as the United States of reaching a peaceful solution in Afghanistan as quickly as possible.
Ahead of his address, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was introduced to Pakistan during her time at university when another student, dressed in a sari, told her to read books in the library on Mohammed Ali Jinnah, through which she had learned about the “greatness of the statesmen”.
Pelosi said that the relationship between Pakistan and the United States was an “important one”.
As she welcomed the premier, Pelosi thanked Pakistan for the “beautiful gift” of Pakistani Americans that the country had given to the US.
In a joint press conference along with PM Imran, Pelosi said: “[The] United States values the critical relationship, the partnership between the United States and Pakistan”.
She thanked the premier for his leadership with regards to reconciliation efforts between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Taliban and to advancing “enduring peace in the region”.
PM Imran thanked Pelosi for extending the invitation and for giving him a chance to share the Pakistani point of view.
“So far, I feel that Pakistan has not really been represented properly in the US. I feel that it is time to have a different sort of relationship with the US — a reset,” he said.
‘Whole country is behind me’
The premier began his address at the Congress by sharing that the “whole idea” of his visit to the United States was for Americans to have a better understanding of Pakistan.
He said that unfortunately, over the past 40 years, specifically the last 15 years during the ‘War on Terror’, a lot of misunderstandings had developed.
“Pakistan is not understood here, specifically in the last 15 years when this ‘War on Terror’ was being fought in Afghanistan and on the borders of Pakistan.
“So, what I hope is that by the time I leave, I would have made people here understand our point of view.”
In his address, the premier said that he would tell the US what his country could do in the Afghan peace process, adding that Pakistan was now trying its best to get the Taliban on the table to start dialogue.
He said that this would not be easy but assured them that Pakistan would try its best.
“The whole country is standing behind me, the Pakistan Army, the security forces, all our behind me. We all have one object and it is exactly the same objective as the US, which is to have a peaceful solution as quickly as possible in Afghanistan.”
The premier said that it was important that he met President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whom he had told that moving forward, the relationship between the two countries has to be based on mutual trust.
Read: Relations with Pakistan much better today than before, says President Trump in meeting with PM Imran
“I will be telling the US what we can do in the peace process.
“I hope that from now on, our relationship is on a different level […] it was painful for us to watch the mistrust between the two countries.”
PM Imran said that 70,000 Pakistanis had been killed in the war and the Pakistani economy had incurred losses of billions of dollars when the country was “fighting the US War on Terror”.
“Pakistan had nothing to do with 9/11, Al Qaeda was in Afghanistan, there were no militant Taliban in Pakistan. But we joined the US war.
“Where I blame my government [is] that we did not tell the US exactly the truth on the ground.”
He said that part of the reason for this was that 40 different militant groups were operating in Pakistan and the governments weren’t in control.
“So while the US expected us to do more and help [the] US win the war, Pakistan was at that time fighting for its own existence.”
As he concluded his remarks, PM Imran said: “We hope from now onwards our relationship will be completely different and rest assured I will make sure that our relationship is now based on truth, on trust.
“I hope that we again get back to the relationship that was based on closeness, on trust, on mutual respect.”
