Washington (Web Desk): The United States (US) wants to see a prosperous and stable Pakistan as it is in the interest of US-Pakistan relations, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said.
Responding to a question about the recent political developments in Pakistan at his regular press briefing on Monday, Patel said that the US is in touch with Pakistan directly on the issues that are of importance to Washington and also to broader regional security and stability.
"We, of course, want to see a prosperous and stable Pakistan," Patel said, adding that was in the interest of US-Pakistan relations.
The US, he said, was engaged with Pakistan directly on several issues.
The spokesperson was also asked about Dr Afia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist who has been in US jail for over 20 years, and was recently allowed to meet her sister for the first time in over 20 years.
He said he would refer the issue to relevant law enforcement authorities. “I don’t have anything to offer from up here as it relates to that”.
To another question, the spokesperson said that he would not “speculate or hypothesize” about Dr Shakeel Afridi, who allegedly helped US operators locate Osama bin Laden, and now serving a jail term in Pakistan.
“I also am not going to get into the specifics of the case given privacy concerns,” he added.