Pakistan wants ties with US based on mutual respect and equality: Sherry

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman has said that Islamabad has given a clear message to Washington that bilateral ties should be based upon mutual respect and equality.
Talking to the members of Pakistani community at the Pakistani embassy, Sherry said Pakistan-US relationship was important through which peace and stability could be assured in the region, adding that Pakistan was not the land of the terrorists.
Sherry reached out to the Pakistani-Americans to seek their support towards better Pakistan-US relations, which she said must be based on “mutual respect, interests and shared values”.
“This embassy is not going to work alone in Washington. It is going to work with many ambassadors like you to attempt to change the way this important bilateral relationship works,” the ambassador said.
“The relationship between Pakistan and the US has never been as important, yet the tensions have never been so grave,” she said, noting that repeated episodes in recent times had undermined the bilateral ties.
She said Pakistan was passing through an important political change, adding that the government would complete its term.
The envoy informed the gathering of Pakistani-Americans that it was for the first time in the history of the country that a comprehensive parliamentary review was underway to set up new principles for the relationship.
“The review will reflect a multi-partisan parliamentary consensus and the support of the Pakistani people.” “Pakistan speaks today as one united voice, including the government and the people, and will have one united policy toward the United States,” she said, adding that it was an opportunity to reset the relationship in a transparent, consistent and predictable manner.