US President authorises the resumption of military training in Pakistan

US President Donald Trump on Friday authorised the resumption of the International Military Education and Training Program (IMET) for Pakistan in order to strengthen military cooperation between the two countries. Another reason for this is the advancement of US national security. The announcement was made via Twitter by the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the US Department of State. The tweet reads, ”
To strengthen military to military cooperation on shared priorities and advance US national security, President Donald Trump authorised the resumption of International Military Education and Training (IMET) for Pakistan. The overall security assistance suspension for Pakistan remains in effect.”

The announcement comes two weeks after the United States Department had publicly acknowledged that the country would resume military training program for Pakistan, and just a few hours after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa spoke to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The conversation between COAS General Bajwa and the top United States diplomat had focused on the regional security situation following the country’s drone strike in Baghdad that had resulted in the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani Pompeo had tweeted, “Pakistan’s Chief of Staff General Bajwa and I spoke today about US defensive action to kill Qassem Soleimani. The Iran regime’s actions in the region are destabilizing and our resolve in protecting American interests, personnel, facilities, and partners will not waver.”