US govt distances itself from Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s visit to Pakistan
April 22, 2022
- US State Department spokesperson says Representative Ilhan Omar is not visiting Pakistan on US Government-sponsored travel.
- Congresswoman Omar is on a four-day visit to Pakistan and had visited AJK as well.
- Visit to AJK had drawn a strong reaction from India.
US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Thursday distanced the Joe Biden-led administration from Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s visit to Pakistan.
“Well, as I understand it, Representative Omar is not visiting Pakistan on US government-sponsored travel, so I’d need to refer you to her office for questions on her travel,” said Price when a journalist asked him whether the visit was being pursued to “clear the air” between Washington and Imran Khan.
Congresswoman Omar is on a four-day visit to Pakistan till April 24. On Wednesday, the first day of her visit, the US lawmaker met some members of the Pakistani leadership, including PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
According to PTI leader Shireen Mazari, Omar discussed matters of mutual interest, Islamophobia, and other issues during his visit with the PTI chairman.
After the meeting the PTI chairman, she met President Arif Alvi, PM Shehbaz and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar.
On Thursday, she had visited Azad Jammu and Kashmir and met the region’s leadership.
In her meeting with AJK President Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, Congresswoman Omar said that she has voiced her concerns over human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and would take up the issue with the US Congress as well as the Biden administration.
“We are deeply worried about India’s August 5, 2019 action,” she said.
The US lawmaker had also visited refugee camps in AJK’s capital to assess the situation in IIOJK and had also visited the Line of Control.
The visit to AJK had drawn a strong reaction from India, with New Delhi claiming that her visit was to “practice her narrow minded politics” in the US.
