WASHINGTON: The United States has welcomed Maryam Nawaz’s election, the first woman Chief Minister, as a “milestone in Pakistan’s politics”, local media reported on Tuesday.
This was stated by US State Department Spokesperson Mathew Miller during his daily news briefing in Washington. He said, “We look forward to collaborating with Pakistan more broadly to enhance the integration of women into the country’s political life and economy, including through initiatives like the civil society, US Pakistan Women’s Council, and other decision-making platforms.”
He further said, “An inclusive Pakistan makes for a prosperous and strong nation which all Pakistanis benefit from and so we are pleased when we see cracks in the glass ceiling anywhere across the world.”
Meanwhile, the United States (US) will engage with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to advance the two nations’ “shared interests,” a State Department Spokesperson stated on Monday. Mathew Millers said that the US values its alliance with Islamabad.
Spokesperson Mathew Miller said in reply to a question regarding Prime Minister Sharif’s election to Pakistan’s top post, “We have said before, we value our alliance — long standing partnership — with Islamabad and have always viewed a prosperous, strong, and democratic Pakistan is critical to US-Pak interests.”
He further said that their engagement with new prime minister of Pakistan and his government will continue to focus on advancing the common interests.
Washington Seeks to Continue ‘robust’ Relations with New Government
Earlier, the UN Chief, Iranian, Turkish, Malaysian and other world leaders extended facilitations to Shehbaz Sharif after becoming Prime Minister of Pakistan.
UN chief Antonio Guterres Monday extended facilitations to Shehbaz Sharif, saying he was looking forward to work with the new PM on various issues.
Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim congratulated the newly-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif. During n a telephonic conversation, he expressed best wishes for him.
President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon also congratulated Shehbaz Sharif and stressing that through joint efforts, both sides would strengthen and expand long-term bilateral ties.
Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif took oath as the 24th prime minister of Pakistan. Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi administered oath from Shehbaz Sharif. Shehbaz Sharif earlier served as prime minister of a PDM-led government from April 2022 to August 2023 before the national assembly was dissolved to hold general polls in February.
On Sunday, Shehbaz Sharif won a majority in the newly-elected lower house of the parliament amidst sloganeering by the opposition parties. Shehbaz, the joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the PPP, received 201 votes in the 336-member of the assembly. His contestant Omar Ayub Khan of SIC took 92 votes.
Besides the PPP, Shehbaz Sharif was also backed by MQM-P, PML-Q, Balochistan Awami Party, Istehkam-e-Pakistan, the National Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Z).
