Pakistan PM Imran Khan left embarrassed in US as no official welcome accorded to him

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who arrived in the United States on a three-day official trip on Saturday, was left embarrassed as no US official were present to receive him.   

A delegation from the US was conspicuous by its absence and Khan, who took commercial flight instead of a private jet as part of his austerity drive, was received by Foreign Minister Fawad Qureshi at the Dulles International Airport.  

Meanwhile, mobile billboards, on enforced disappearances and human rights violations in Balochistan, seen in Washington DC today.

Mobile billboards, on enforced disappearances and human rights violations in Balochistan, seen in Washington DC today. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is on a three-day visit to the US. President of the US, Donald Trump will hold a meeting with him on July 22. pic.twitter.com/E6xKF50iu2

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2019

The cricketer-turned-politician is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday during which the American leadership will press him to take “decisive and irreversible” actions against terrorist and militant groups operating from Pakistani soil and facilitate peace talks with the Taliban.

Khan is also scheduled to meet IMF acting chief David Lipton and World Bank President David Malpass.

He is scheduled to address a gathering of thousands of Pakistani Americans at capitol One Arena in downtown Washington DC on Sunday, July 21, and speak at the US Institute of Peace think-tank on July 23. This is after several decades that a visiting Pakistani leader has been welcomed by members of the Pakistani diaspora in such a large number.

However, ahead of the visit, a senior administration official ruled out lifting suspension of security aid to Pakistan unless it is sees sustained, decisive and irreversible action against terrorist and militant groups.

“As you know, we suspended security assistance to Pakistan in January 2018. And As of now, there’s no change to that policy,” the official said in response to a question.

“The purpose of the visit is to press for concrete cooperation from Pakistan to advance the Afghanistan peace process, and to encourage Pakistan to deepen and sustain its recent effort to crack down on terrorist and militants within its territory,” the senior administration official told reporters during a conference call.