WASHINGTON: The United States has welcomed the return of Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister and assured that Washington will work with the new Pakistani government on “advancing shared interests” of the two countries.
“So I’m not going to speak with respect to the new prime minister, but as we’ve said before, we value our longstanding partnership with Pakistan and have always viewed a strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan as critical to United States-Pakistan interests, and our engagement with new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his government will continue to focus on advancing these shared interests,” said State Department Spokesperson Mathew Miller in a press briefing on Monday
His comments came hours after PM Shehbaz Sharif took the oath as the country’s 24th premier at the President’s House in Islamabad.
President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to the newly-elected premier in a ceremony which was attended by several dignitaries including Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Asim Munir.
Shehbaz was elected as the prime minister on Sunday, retaining the title after his 16-month-long stint in the top coveted position from April 2022 to August 2023.
This is the second time that Shehbaz will serve the nation as the premier after receiving 201 votes against his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) opponent Omar Ayub Khan who got 92 votes in a ruckus-marred session of the Parliament’s lower house.
