US State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel has said that “a prosperous and strong democratic Pakistan is critical to US interests”.

During a press briefing on Thursday, he referred to unrest in Pakistan and said that the US continued to monitor the situation in Pakistan closely.

“We don’t have a position on one candidate or one political party versus another. What our interest is, is a safe and secure, prosperous Pakistan,” he said.

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“That is in the interest of the US-Pakistan relations, and we call for the respect of democratic principles and the rule of law around the world.”

Patel’s remarks come after unrest gripped Pakistan following the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust Case. The protests turned violent and over 1,000 protesters have been arrested.

Talking about the suspension of mobile broadband and social media websites in Pakistan since Tuesday, the spokesperson said that access to information and diverse ideas make a more prosperous and democratic society.

“Access to internet connection connects the public to information they need to advocate for themselves, to communicate with one another, to make informed decisions, to hold government officials accountable, and to exercise their freedom of expression.

“We are looking to continue to strengthen economic ties between our two countries by expanding private sector trade and investment, and there’s also an important security collaboration and areas of collaboration on renewable energy, addressing the climate crisis, increasing agricultural trade, and a number of areas.”

“That’s what we mean by a strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan that is critical to US interests,” he underlined.

“On some of the areas, such as press freedom, human rights, things of that nature, we have consistently raised these issues with our counterparts not just in Pakistan but in other countries where we have a perspective to offer on that,” he said.

When asked if the political unrest posed a big threat to the safety of Pakistani nuclear assets, he responded that it is something internal to Pakistan.

“What I will say is that Pakistan continues to be an important partner in the region – an important trade partner, an important security partner – and even in that time period we continued to engage with our Pakistani counterparts on a number of issues,” he stated.