Pakistan disputes US account of call between Pompeo, PM

Pakistan has called for the United States to amend what its foreign ministry described as a "factually incorrect" account of a phone call between US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and new Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The US State Department said it stands by its account.

The row comes ahead of a planned visit by Pompeo to Islamabad in the first week of September to meet with Khan, who was sworn in as prime minister last week.

The US State Department readout of the call said Pompeo wished Khan success and also asked Khan to take "decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan".

US officials routinely raise the issue of Taliban and other militants operating from safe havens in Pakistan, where they plot attacks on US and Afghan troops across the border. Pakistan regularly denies that the Afghan Taliban operates from its soil.

And overnight on Thursday, Pakistan's foreign ministry asserted that the issue of militants never came up in the phone call between Pompeo and Khan.

However, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert indicated there would be no correction in response to Pakistan's complaint.

Pompeo is expected in Islamabad on September 5, and is likely to be the first foreign dignitary to meet with Khan since he was sworn in.

Khan is well known for his criticism of U.S. military policy in Afghanistan, but he said after winning elections last week that he seeks better relations with the United States after a series of aid cuts and the suspension of U.S. military training.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while addressing a press conference at the Foreign Office (FO) yesterday said that his Chinese counterpart would be visiting Islamabad on Sept 8.

Qureshi was speaking at a briefing following a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and other senior officials at the FO.