WASHINGTON: US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Friday said that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who is currently on her maiden visit to Pakistan, was not visiting the country on US government-sponsored travel.
The spokesperson was responding to a question from a Pakistani media outlet’s reporter who sought the stance of the US government over claims that the United States was “trying to clear the air” with former prime minister Imran Khan.
“Close associates of Mr. Khan claim that United States trying to clear the air with Mr. Khan. Is it true that Ilhan Omar is representing Biden government there in Islamabad,” the journalist had asked.
“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,” Price responded during a press briefing.
Omar, who made history as one of the first two Muslim women elected to the US Congress, arrived in Islamabad earlier this week on a visit to Pakistan. The Congresswoman will stay in Pakistan till April 24.
The Muslim Congress representative on Wednesday called on Imran Khan to discuss “Islamophobia” and related issues with the former prime minister. The picture of the meeting was shared by PTI stalwart and former human rights minister Shireen Mazari.
US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar called on Chairman PTI in Bani Gala. They discussed Islamophobia & related issues. @Ilhan expressed her admiration for @ImranKhanPTI & his position on & work against Islamophobia globally. IK appreciated her courageous & principled position on issues. pic.twitter.com/m3kPa2poYx
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) April 20, 2022
The Ilhan-led delegation had also met National Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Ashraf and President Arif Alvi during the visit. She had also visited Azad Jammu Kashmir and met its president to discuss rights abuses by India in occupied Kashmir.
Omar’s visit to AJK
Price’s statement on Omar’s visit has come a day after she visited Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), where she acknowledged that the Kashmir dispute was not being talked about in the power centres of the US at the required level.
“I don’t believe that Kashmir is being talked about to the extent it needs to be, not only in Congress but also with the US administration,” she said while speaking to local journalists in Azad Kashmir.
“And that the condemnations and concerns of those who fight for human rights and the question of the Kashmir issue will be included in those [hearings],” she said. She, however, expressed the hope that her visit would pave the way for “many more conversations” on the Kashmir issue.
Omar further told the journalists that on the question of Kashmir, “we held a committee hearing on the foreign affairs committee to look at the reports of human rights violations and to talk about the bigger issue with Narendra Modi administration’s anti-Muslim rhetoric and how that’s leading to human rights violations as well”.
