FM Bilawal holds high-level talks with Blinken in Washington

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at the State Department in Washington.

They discussed bilateral issues and a range of other issues as part of a renewed push by both sides to reset their relationship in the aftermath of the US pullout from Afghanistan.

This is the first time that both countries are holding formal high-level talks since the change of government in Pakistan in April. US Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu was also present.

It is the second formal meeting between two foreign ministers in four months as they first met in May on the sidelines of the food security summit in New York.

Bilawal and Blinken also interacted informally on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session where Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif briefly joined them.

After the meeting, Blinken will also meet the Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The meeting is considered crucial in diplomatic circles as it is usual for the US Secretary of State to meet his Pakistani and Indian counterparts on the same day.

It must be mentioned that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, immediately after his speech at the UN General Assembly, sent a message of peace to Modi in an interview with an Indian channel and invited him for bilateral talks.

Prime Minister Shehbaz even held a brief interaction with President Biden in New York at the reception the latter hosted for the world leaders attending the UNGA session.

Bilawal Bhutto is expected to stay three days in Washington and has several other engagements in the US capital including meetings with US congressmen at Capitol Hill.

He is also expected to meet several oth­er US officials in Washington. He has been invited to two prestigious think tanks, Wilson Centre and US Institute of Peace where he would de­liver his address, highlighting Pakistan position on several regional and global issues.

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