ISLAMABAD: US President Joe Biden has expressed Washington’s desire to build a strong basis for taking the US-Pakistan ties forward.

The American president conveyed this desire to Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Sardar Masood Khan, who visited the White House on Tuesday to meet and greet President Biden and have an official photograph with him which is an established tradition in Washington DC for newly-appointed envoys.

During the ceremony, the US president and the Pakistani ambassador had a brief conversation on building a strong basis for moving the US-Pakistan ties forward, said a press release issued by the Pakistani Embassy in Washington.

Forty-six other ambassadors were also there to have official photograph with the US president one by one. They too had not been able to call on the president for more than a year because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Ambassador Masood Khan arrived in Washington DC on 25th March, 2022. On that day his credentials were received by the US Chief of Protocol and he was designated as “Appointed Ambassador”.

On April 19, 2022, Ambassador Masood Khan’s credentials were formally accepted by President Joe Biden. The official photograph completes all formalities.