Obama, Sharif Reaffirm US-Pakistani Ties

“You have also read the assurances about these two organisations specifically and terrorism generally by Pakistan”.

A joint statement issued after the meeting said both leaders “called on Taliban leaders to enter into direct talks with Kabul and work toward a sustainable peace settlement”.

Noting that the priority of his country was to defeat the Taliban in Pakistan, Sharif stressed that Islamabad was ready to help peace talks begin again between the Afghan government and Taliban – if Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani would agree.

The talks broke down after the Afghan intelligence agency said Taleban leader Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. Despite its expression of support for Pakistan’s civilian democracy, the U.S. knows only too well that in this third year of the Nawaz Sharif government, real power has moved into the hands of army chief Raheel Sharif.

Responding to a question, the official said the Obama administration has not notified to the Congress about the proposed sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.

According to a joint statement released from the White House Thursday, Sharif and Obama made the resolve after holding wide-ranging discussions on Thursday, including counterterrorism and defense cooperation.

However, while Sharif insisted that Pakistan has no interest in backing the Taleban’s campaign of violence, he also said that Pakistan “cannot bring them to the table and be asked to kill them at the same time”. “And as I would say more generally, the U.S. urges all nuclear-capable states, including Pakistan, to exercise restraint regarding nuclear weapons and missile capabilities”, the official said. He said it is Pakistan, which has chosen to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

“The joint statement illustrates that the United States is clearly asking India to re-engage with Pakistan”, said the official.

“Under Shimla Accord it was decided that India and Pakistan would resolve their disputes bilaterally”.

“American companies have long seen value in Pakistan’s geographic proximity to regional markets and resources, its large base of domestic consumers, and its vibrant workforce”, said P. Miles Young, USPBC Chairman and Worldwide Chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather.

About the new initiatives decided between Pakistan and the United States, he said both the countries have agreed for a Clean Energy Partnership to produce 3000 megawatts of electricity. “And when India got this particular deal, it was on the basis of our own impeccable non-proliferation track record”, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said.

The Taliban insurgency has escalated since tens of thousands of US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation combat troops withdrew from Afghanistan ahead of an end-2014 deadline, hampering Obama’s efforts to withdraw remaining USA troops.

It seems Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was made to listen more than talk when he met US President Barack Obama, said a Pakistani daily.