WASHINGTON: US State Department official Mathew Miller has said that America does not play any role in choosing the leaders of Pakistan, adding the US engages with the leadership shown by – or the leadership decided by the Pakistani people, and “we will continue to engage with the Government of Pakistan on all these issues.”

Reacting to queries during the weekly briefing on Monday, he said that the US supports the diplomatic resolution to the problems between Afghanistan and Pakistan. "It’s something that we have been engaged on. We’ve detailed the substance of some of those specific engagements over the past few weeks, and we will continue to do so."

To a question about the Washington Post report that Israel used white phosphorous on civilians in southern Lebanon, Mathew Miller said: "We are concerned by the reports of the use of white phosphorous. Obviously, there is a legitimate military use for white phosphorous, but that does not include using them on civilians. It means that if you use them, you have to do everything you can to minimize civilian harm. Anytime that we provide items like white phosphorous or really anything to another military, we do it with the expectation that it will be used for legitimate purposes and in full keeping with international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict. So we’re looking into this and looking for additional information.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023