Islamabad, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to visit the US from July 20 during which he is expected to hold face-to-face talks with US President Donald Trump for the first time since he assumed office last year, the media reported.
Khan will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other leaders during his five-day visit to the US, Geo News reported citing sources.
Khan’s trip, originally planned in June, was postponed due to Pakistan’s federal budget 2019 and other prior domestic engagements, according to the Express Tribune.
Qureshi on Thursday told reporters that a meeting between Khan and Trump was expected soon. He, however, did not share the date of the Prime Minister’s visit.
He had said that Khan would be visiting Washington on the invitation of Trump, who wanted to discuss “important regional issues”.
This would be the first high-level engagement between the two countries under the Trump administration’s tenure and comes at a time when talks between the US and the Afghan Taliban are entering a decisive phase.
Relations between Islamabad and Washington have remained strained since Trump took charge of the White House as he is highly critical of Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and the overall war on terror.
The US President had earlier slammed Islamabad, saying that the South Asian country has given us “nothing but lies and deceit”. He then suspended security and other assistance to Pakistan for supporting terror groups on its soil.