Rep. Ilhan Omar meets with Pakistani leaders, including former Prime Minister Imran Khan

US Rep Ilhan Omar met with recently removed Pakistan PM Imran Khan in her recent visit to Islamabad.

Omar met a range of Pakistani leaders, including President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Khar and National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, but it was her meeting with Khan which attracted attention.

Former human rights minister in Khan’s cabinet, Dr. Shireen Mazari, tweeted about the meeting. “US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar called on Chairman PTI in Bani Gala. They discussed Islamophobia & related issues. @Ilhan expressed her admiration for @ImranKhanPTI & his position on & work against Islamophobia globally. IK appreciated her courageous & principled position on issues,” Dr. Mazari said.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah asked Khan if his meeting with Omar was “a conspiracy or interference.”

“Which conspiracy is being hatched?” he asked while recalling Khan’s stance that opposition’s meetings with the American officials were conspiratorial.

Warning of an investigation into the meeting, the interior minister said that if Khan did not himself divulge the details, he (as the minister) “will investigate since the nation should know the truth, lest Imran Niazi, according to his tradition, brings out another letter a few days later.”

Background discussions with US officials showed Omar was on a “personal trip,” which had not come through the administration. The trip had been arranged in her personal capacity as the congresswoman, one official explained. Her meeting with Khan had been directly scheduled by her office through a US-based Pakistani businessman, a PTI leader said.

President Alvi, while talking to Ms Omar, called for “constructive engagement between the two countries” and emphasised the need for strengthening bilateral ties.

Omar highlighted the potential for improving and strengthening ties between the two countries and “appreciated the role played by Pakistan in combating Islamophobia.”

She also met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who told her that Pakistan “wanted to further deepen bilateral cooperation based on mutual respect, trust and equality.”

In her meeting with Omar, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Khar said: “Pakistan is committed to further strengthening bilateral relations with the United States and advancing bilateral cooperation in various fields of mutual interest.”