Updated on
Summary PM Raja Ashraf Saturday said Pakistan regarded its relations with the US as very important.
Ashrafs remarks came after he held talks with US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, who arrived in the Pakistani capital on Friday for talks with top officials.The Prime Minister said that relations between Pakistan and United States are very important and we value United States as a major development partner, a statement issued by Ashrafs office said.We have a shared objective in fighting terrorism and need to cooperate more to get rid of this menace, the statement said.Ambassador Grossman said that future relations between Pakistan and the United States should be based on market access and trade.The US government was working on a bilateral investment treaty to facilitate US investment in Pakistan and improve market access, according to the Pakistani statement.It said that the United States has promised 200 million dollars for the construction of Diamer-Basha dam in northern Pakistan.Ties between Islamabad and Washington have been rocky for years, and have only just resumed after nosediving following the secret raid that killed Osama bin Laden and an air raid that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani troops.Washington considers Pakistans semi-autonomous northwestern tribal belt as the main hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.
