Pakistan must ‘deliver outcomes’ to build trust: US

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told Pakistan that it must “deliver outcomes” to build confidence and trust between the two countries, the State Department has said. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said this when asked about the recent remarks by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which he identified Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation as the third top national security concern for the US.

“The secretary (of State Pompeo) has emphasised the need (for Pakistan) to deliver outcomes and to build confidence and trust between our two nations and we do want to see a prosperous Pakistan that contributes positively towards regional stability and security,” Palladino told reporters on Tuesday at his biweekly news conference.

Palladino was answering a question on the recent remarks by Pompeo in which he identified Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation as the third top national security concerns for the US.

“Nuclear proliferation is one of the very first national security concerns articulated in our national security strategy. It’s at the very top of the list,” he said.

“So that absolutely remains something that this administration thinks about often because the level of impact of what could happen is simply so great. So that remains at the very top of our national security considerations,” Palladino said.

Pakistan, he said, could play an important role in bringing about a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan.