Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatami on Thursday met with United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in Washington as part of stepped-up efforts by both sides to reset their troubled relationship.
Fatimi is the second senior official to have visited the US following Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in May in New York where he held a face-to-face meeting with Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
Fatami, according to sources, was also sent to Washington to seek the Biden administration’s help to persuade the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for showing flexibility in some of the tough conditions attached to the revival of the bailout programme.
There was a sense within the coalition government that the IMF was not giving any relief or space to Pakistan given the current economic difficulties compounded by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
A state department spokesperson confirmed that US Deputy Secretary of State Sherman met with Fatami. She “reaffirmed our shared goals for enhancing” the US-Pakistan relationship by advancing economic and commercial ties and health cooperation.
