HT Correspondents

letters@hindustantimes.com

Washington/New delhi : The Trump administration on Friday announced the resumption of a training programme for Pakistan military officials that was suspended in 2018, while retaining a suspension on security-related aid, the top American diplomat for South Asia has announced.

The resumption of the International Military Education and Training (IMET) for Pakistan was announced through a tweet by principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs Alice Wells on Twitter on Saturday about 7 hours after secretary of state Mike Pompeo called Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa to discuss the fallout of the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

“To strengthen mil2mil (military to military) cooperation on shared priorities & advance US national security, @POTUS authorized the resumption of International Military Education and Training #IMET for Pakistan,” the tweet read.

A state department spokesperson said that the “president’s security assistance suspension announced in January 2018 authorized narrow exceptions for programs that support vital US national security interests.

“The Administration has approved the resumption of the IMET program for Pakistan as one such exception, subject to Congressional approval.”

“IMET serves as an effective means to strengthen long term military-to-military relationships critical to US national security goals,” they added.