Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said he hopes to meet US President-elect Donald Trump after his inauguration.
PM Nawaz told Sputnik US and Pakistan have good bilateral ties and he is looking forward to meeting Trump. “I’ll make a phone call to congratulate Trump on his inauguration. Hopefully, we will be meeting. Pakistan always had a good relationship with the US, it dates back to 60-70 years. We want to maintain that good relationship and even strengthen it,” Nawaz said.
Interestingly, Trump has invited only former president Asif Zardari from Pakistan to his oath-taking ceremony.
Although it remains to be seen what shape Pakistan-US ties will take under the new US administration, the first-ever telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on November 30 suggested the US president-elect may prove to be Islamabad’s good friend.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Premier Sharif called Trump and felicitated him on his victory in the US presidential election. A readout released by the PM House of the premier’s telephonic conversation with Trump quoted the US president-elect as having said: “he would love to come to a fantastic country [Pakistan], fantastic place of fantastic people.”
“Please convey to the Pakistani people that they are amazing and all Pakistanis I have known are exceptional people,” the new US leader had told the prime minister.
Trump, who defeated Democrat candidate Hilary Clinton on November 8, 2016, US elections, will take oath on January 20 in Washington.
