US President Donald Trump welcomed Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan to the White House, Monday, July 22.
Khan has said that in his meeting with President Trump he would stress the need for political resolution to the protracted war in Afghanistan.
Khan, who is in the U.S. on a three-day official visit in a bid to repair strained bilateral ties, made the remarks to a big gathering of Pakistani diaspora in Washington late on Sunday. He had long campaigned against the use of U.S. military force to resolve the conflict even before he came to power after last year’s elections in Pakistan.
“I feel proud that now the whole world is saying Afghanistan has no military solution,” Khan told the cheering crowd, which organizers said was the biggest gathering of Pakistani Americans to date.
Earlier, a senior U.S. administration official said Trump will press Khan for assistance in advancing the Afghan peace process and encourage Pakistan to crackdown on militants within its territory.
Pakistan has arranged Washington’s direct peace negotiations with Taliban insurgents who are fighting local and U.S.-led international troops in neighboring Afghanistan.