Gen Mark Milley, the potential future US military chief has stated that the United States military needs to maintain strong ties with Pakistan
Gen Mark Milley, the future US military chief, stated on 11 July 2019 that the United States needs to maintain strong military-to-military ties with Pakistan.
He said that strategic military ties should be based on the shared interests of the two countries.
US President Donald Trump’s has himself nominated Gen. Milley to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the coming months.
In his nomination hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, Milley said, “If confirmed as chairman, my objective will be to preserve the defence relationship between the United States and Pakistan even as we press Pakistan to take action on US requests,”
“While we have suspended security assistance and paused major defence dialogues, we need to maintain strong military-to-military ties based on our shared interests,” he added.
He also warned that a premature withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would be a strategic mistake.
The statement comes 10 days before Imran Khan’s first visit to Washington as Prime Minister.
Gen Milley is currently serving as the US Army’s Chief of Staff. He has previously served as the Commanding General, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command and Deputy Commanding General, US Forces in Afghanistan.
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