Pentagon official toasts Pakistan's sacrifices on Defence and Martyrs Day

The United States has high hopes for a respectful and better bilateral relationship with Pakistan, a Pentagon official said Thursday night, especially after the visit of US State Secretary Mike Pompeo and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford.

Randall G. Schriver, the assistant defence secretary for the Department of Defence's (DoD) Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, said the military linkages between the two countries have always remained a strong foundation for the two-way relations.

Schriver was speaking at an event organised to commemorate the Defense and Martyrs Day 2018 at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington. He reiterated Gen Dunford's Wednesday statement when he was about to travel from Nur Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi to India.

"The relationship — military-to-military — is one that has remained in a place where some of the other relationships haven’t," the top US military official had said.

Noting that Pakistan is an important partner and ally of the US, the DoD officer noted that Islamabad has offered multiple sacrifices in the war against terror and that Washington respected these losses.

The United States is making active efforts to improve its relationship with the Pakistan Army, Schriver said, adding that the talks held between Pompeo, Dunford, and Islamabad's top brass were in a favourable environment.

The top military officials have good personal relations, he added.