“I met with President Trump at the reception where I had the opportunity to discuss Pak-US relations with him. “President Trump agrees with the view and says that the United States intends to re-build the relations,” Qureshi said, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. The so-called interaction, which was described as an “informal meeting” was reported widely in Pakistani media. “This was a mischaracterization of a handshake as a meeting, even if it was called an informal meeting,” said a former Washington-based diplomat who spoke on background to explain nuances of meetings and interactions between officials to two different countries. Understandable perhaps given the tough posture adopted by President Trump including the suspension of $2 billion in security-related aid to Pakistan.

Source: Hindustan Times September 27, 2018 03:22 UTC