Pakistan, US reaffirm commitment to strengthen ‘economically entrenched strategic partnership’

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, met with the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Paul Kapur, to discuss avenues for deepening bilateral cooperation across multiple domains of mutual interest.

During the meeting, Ambassador Khan congratulated Kapur on assuming his new role.

In a post on social media platform X, Khan said the two sides “discussed ways and means of translating the resolve expressed at the leadership level of developing Pak-US ties into an economically entrenched strategic partnership, through sustained engagement in multiple domains of mutual interest.”

Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary Kapur, in a post on social media, described it as a pleasure to meet the Pakistani envoy, noting that the two “discussed ways to advance the US-Pakistan relationship and make our countries more prosperous and secure.”

The meeting comes as both nations explore opportunities for expanded collaboration in economic development and security cooperation.

Earlier this year, the US administration struck a deal with Pakistan in which Washington would work with Islamabad in developing the South Asian nation’s oil reserves.

Islamabad described the deal as a marker of a broader partnership with Washington. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who led the final round of talks, said there was a larger economic and strategic agreement.

“From our perspective, it was always going beyond the immediate trade imperative, and its whole purpose was, and is, that trade and investment have to go hand in hand,” Aurangzeb had said at the time.

Following the announcement, the US administration imposed a significantly lower 19% reciprocal tariff on a wide range of Pakistani goods.

The tariff was initially proposed at 29%.