KARACHI, Aug 11 (APP): United States Ambassador Donald Blome Thursday visited the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and paid his respects to the founder of Pakistan by laying a wreath and signed the guestbook.
His visit was in line with Pakistan’s 75th Independence Day, said a statement from US Consulate issued here on Thursday.
Ambassador Blome, later visited the tombs of Pakistan’s first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan Jinnah’s sister Ms. Fatima Jinnah. He also saw and admired the artifacts used by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah displayed in the adjoining museum.
US Ambassador noted in the guestbook, “It is a great honor to be here at the Mazar-e-Quaid to pay my respects and commemorate the legacy of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. United States shares Quaid-e-Azam’s vision of a Pakistan at peace with itself and its neighbors, a Pakistan of religious tolerance, economic prosperity, and social inclusion.
On behalf of the American people, I offer Pakistan warm congratulations on its 75th Independence Day.”
This year marks 75 years of bilateral relations between the United States and Pakistan. US value our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan and has always viewed a strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan as critical to U.S. interests.
We supported strengthening economic ties between our two countries by expanding private sector trade and investment, which benefits both countries, he said.
Examples of long-standing cooperation between US and Pakistan were:
United States had donated more than 77 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Pakistan, including 16 million pediatric vaccines recently pledged in Washington. That contribution was part of our ongoing solidarity with the people of Pakistan as they confront this devastating pandemic, and among the largest donations from the United States to any country worldwide, said US envoy.
In addition to vaccine doses, he added, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government had provided nearly $70.4 million in direct support and $13.8 million in in-kind support to assist the Pakistani people in the fight against COVID-19. An additional $20 million in USAID funding was also planned to support vaccination efforts in Pakistan.
Besides, trade relationship with Pakistan has helped both Pakistani industries and consumers. The United States continued to be Pakistan’s top single country export destination. Also, in the last fiscal year alone, U.S. direct investment in Pakistan increased by 50 percent, and is now the highest it has been in over a decade.
U.S. agricultural exports to Pakistan have grown from $287 million in 2014 to dollar1.3 billion in 2021.
In 2021, U.S. firms planted more than 600,000 trees in Pakistan to combat climate change and support climate adaptation measures. In 2022, the U.S. Mission to Pakistan collaborated with the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association to plant an additional 10,000 trees in Pakistan.
United States had supported the addition of more than 4,000 MW of clean energy capacity in Pakistan, enough power for more than 47 million Pakistanis.
U.S. firms were already making significant investments to help Pakistan provide expanded access to a cleaner, more resilient energy supply. General Electric (GE) turbines and equipment are widely used in Pakistan, including wind-powered turbines that increase Pakistan’s renewable energy generation capacity, said Donald Blome.
He said the support of the State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau, Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force reported seizing 10 metric tons of morphine and heroin, 27 metric tons of opium, 71 kgs of cocaine, and 111 metric tons of hashish during the first 10 months of 2021 – denying revenue to drug trafficking organizations and terrorist groups.
“We look forward to continuing our work with Pakistan to grow and expand our commercial and economic ties, expand our collaboration in education, improve access to renewable energy, and increase agricultural cooperation, between our countries. We also look forward to more cooperation on integrating women into Pakistan’s economy, ” the US Ambassador concluded.
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