State Dept. Backs Trump’s Pak Engagement, Downplays India Concerns

Photo: State Department screengrab

WASHINGTON, DC – US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated that US relations with India are “good” while defending Washington’s outreach to Pakistan, emphasizing that having a president who communicates with everyone is beneficial.

“Our relationship with both nations is as it has been, which is good,” she said on August 12 when a reporter asked her if President Donald Trump reaching out to Pakistan’s military leader Asim Munir would be “at the expense of the president’s relationship with (Prime Minister) Modi.”

“That is the benefit of having a president who knows everyone, talks to everyone, and that is how we can bring differences together in this case,” she said in defense of Trump’s diplomacy towards Pakistan. “So it’s clear that the diplomats here are committed to both nations,” she added.

Bruce did not respond to another part of the reporter’s question, whether Trump’s seeming “to have developed a strong relationship” with Munir “will lead to more US assistance to Pakistan and an increase in arms sales.”

However, she did refer to the US-Pakistan dialogue on counter-terrorism held earlier on August 12 in Islamabad. The US and Pakistan “reaffirmed their shared commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations” during the meeting, she said. They “discussed ways to enhance cooperation to counter terrorist threats, and I think that is good for the region and for the world,” she said.

Trump hosted Munir, who wields power over Pakistan’s civilian government, at a White House lunch in June, asserting that he “wanted to thank him for not going into the war and ending it.” Munir came again to the US last week to participate in an event in Tampa, Florida, to bid farewell to General Michael Kurilla, who ended his tour as the commander of the US Central Command and welcome his successor, Admiral Brad Cooper. CENTCOM covers Pakistan, in addition to Central and West Asia. (IANS)