Diplomatic embarrassment: US releases transcript of PM Khan, Pompeo phone call

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan faces the diplomatic embarrassment as the United States has sent the transcript of the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pakistan.

The transcript clearly shows what was discussed during the talks, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

The sources told a leading English newspaper that the transcript had ‘embarrassed’ the government who had challenged the contents released by the US State Department.

The statement issued by the State Department had said: “Secretary Pompeo raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process.”

Pakistan rejected the statement as ‘factually incorrect’ and urged the US not to twist the facts. The US is yet to issue an official clarification and Washington also did not change or withdraw the State Department release.

The US, however, sent the transcript to Pakistan to ‘satisfy’ Islamabad that the State department’s release was not ‘incorrect’, the sources said. The US has not sent any comment with the transcript, the sources added.

Senior officials at the foreign ministry told the newspaper that Islamabad had decided not to take the issue further and bury it ahead of Pompeo’s September 5 visit.

One official said: “Now, we don’t want to create more misunderstandings as we already have trust issues with the US. Raising this issue further could mean more misunderstandings.”

No more discussion on PM Imran-Pompeo phone call: FO

Meanwhile, Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal on Thursday said Pakistan wants an end to the controversy surrounding a telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.

“We want an end to this matter and want to move forward politically,” Dr Faisal said while responding to a question during his weekly press briefing.

“Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has already issued a detailed clarification and we will not comment further on this matter,” he asserted.

However, the FO spokesperson avoided answering a question regarding whether the US had issued a transcript of the conversation to Pakistan.