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US vows to strengthen security,trade partnership with Pakistan

By
Vedant Patel
The US Department of State denied that there were any rifts between Islamabad and Washington after the latter imposed sanctions on four commercial entities allegedly having links to the former's ballistic missile programme.

"Absolutely not. You’ve heard me say this before. Pakistan continues to be one of our most important partners in the region," said the State Department's principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel during a press briefing on Thursday.

The spokesperson said that the US continues to have a "lot of cooperation" with Pakistan's government, especially in the security space and trade sector.

"This is a robust relationship and we’ll look to continue strengthening it," added Patel, when asked if there was something going on between Washington and Islamabad.

Last week, the US State Department imposed sanctions on four entities — three Chinese and one from Belarus — for reportedly supplying items to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme.

However, following the US decision to impose sanctions, the Foreign Office (FO) rejected the “political use” of export control, saying that such listings had taken place in the past as well on allegations of links to Pakistan's ballistic missile programme without sharing any evidence.

FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that Islamabad was not aware of the specifics of the latest measures by the US, adding that in the past they have come across many instances where listings have been made on mere suspicion or even when the involved items were not under any control lists but were deemed sensitive under catch-all provisions.

The spokesperson said that Pakistan had pointed out many times that such items have legitimate civil commercial uses. “It is, therefore, important to avoid arbitrary application of export controls.”

She said there was a need for discussions between relevant parties for an objective mechanism to ensure access to technology in pursuit of socio-economic development.

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