The US State Department spokesperson Ned Price while briefing the newsmen in Washington on Tuesday said that the United States values its longstanding cooperation with Pakistan. Ned Price said that US Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman did have an opportunity to meet with the Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. He said that we meet with and speak with Pakistan s officials regularly on a range of issues. But as is standard practice, we don’t delve into the details of those engagements always. He said that there are a number of areas where our interests are aligned. The stability and the future of Afghanistan and the Afghan people, the security challenges in the region and potentially beyond face there always are on the agenda when we have high-level engagements with our Pakistani counterparts.

Answering a question regarding measures to make sure that the flood relief assistance reaches to the deserving people, Ned Price said we have adequate tracking mechanisms in this context. USAID staff makes regular trips to monitor our programs in the field. He said USAID staff members traveled to more than 10 flood-affected districts in Balochistan and Sindh provinces to assess not only the humanitarian conditions but also the response activities and to make sure that those response activities were meeting the humanitarian need. He said that USAID also works with local partners and organisations that have extensive knowledge of the affected areas and population to make sure that the response activities meet the humanitarian needs.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP