Pakistan Hopes for Maintaining Cooperative Relations with USPakistan hopes for maintaining friendly and cooperative relationship with the United States.The desire is underlined in a letter from Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf to U.S. President George Bush. The letter will be delivered by Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar who left here on Monday to start visits to Britain, Canada and the United States, Foreign Office spokesman Riaz Muhammad Khan told a press briefing here on Tuesday. "The letter will underline our desire to have very close friendly and cooperative relationship with the United States, which we have maintained," Riaz Muhammad Khan said, adding the visit of the foreign minister to the United States at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell would be undertaken in the same spirit. Riaz Muhammad Khan said Pakistan desired to maintain and further consolidate its friendly and cooperative relations with the United States "which can play highly positive and constructive role for peace, stability and progress of our region." The United States has put sanctions on Pakistan since Pakistan and India conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and deplored the military take-over in 1999. Before starting his journey, Sattar said at a news conference that during his visit to the United States he would discuss with the U.S. administration issues relating to U.S. sanctions against Pakistan for the nuclear issue, Afghanistan, Pak-Indo relations, security in South Asia and other matters of mutual concern. |
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