KARACHI (August 11, 2022) – U.S. Ambassador Donald Blome visited the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and paid his respects to the founder of Pakistan ahead of Pakistan’s 75th Independence Day. Ambassador Blome laid a floral wreath at the mausoleum and signed the guestbook on behalf of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
Ambassador Blome later visited the tombs of Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s first Prime Minister, and Fatima Jinnah, Jinnah’s sister. He toured the adjoining museum and admired the artifacts related to the life of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Ambassador Blome noted in the guestbook, “It is a great honor to be here at the Mazar-e-Quaid to pay my respects and commemorate the legacy of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The United States shares Quaid-e-Azam’s vision of a Pakistan at peace with itself and its neighbors, a Pakistan of religious tolerance, economic prosperity, and social inclusion. On behalf of the American people, I offer Pakistan warm congratulations on its 75th Independence Day.”
This year marks 75 years of bilateral relations between the United States and Pakistan. The United States values our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan and has always viewed a strong, prosperous, and democratic Pakistan as critical to U.S. interests. We support strengthening economic ties between our two countries by expanding private sector trade and investment, which benefits both countries.
Examples of our long-standing cooperation include:
- The United States has donated more than 77 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Pakistan, including 16 million pediatric vaccines recently pledged in Washington. This contribution is part of our ongoing solidarity with the people of Pakistan as they confront this devastating pandemic, and among the largest donations from the United States to any country worldwide.
- In addition to vaccine doses, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government has provided nearly $70.4 million in direct support and $13.8 million in in-kind support to assist the Pakistani people in the fight against COVID-19. An additional $20 million in USAID funding is also planned to support vaccination efforts in Pakistan.
- Our trade relationship with Pakistan has helped both Pakistani industries and consumers. The United States continues to be Pakistan’s top single country export destination. Also, in the last fiscal year alone, U.S. direct investment in Pakistan increased by 50 percent, and is now the highest it has been in over a decade. U.S. agricultural exports to Pakistan have grown from $287 million in 2014 to $1.3 billion in 2021.
- In 2021, U.S. firms planted more than 600,000 trees in Pakistan to combat climate change and support climate adaptation measures. In 2022, the U.S. Mission to Pakistan collaborated with the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association to plant an additional 10,000 trees in Pakistan.
- The United States has supported the addition of more than 4,000 MW of clean energy capacity in Pakistan, enough power for more than 47 million Pakistanis. U.S. firms are already making significant investments to help Pakistan provide expanded access to a cleaner, more resilient energy supply. General Electric (GE) turbines and equipment are widely used in Pakistan, including wind-powered turbines that increase Pakistan’s renewable energy generation capacity.
- With the support of the State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Affairs Bureau, Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force reported seizing 10 metric tons of morphine and heroin, 27 metric tons of opium, 71kgs of cocaine, and 111 metric tons of hashish during the first 10 months of 2021 – denying revenue to drug trafficking organizations and terrorist groups.
We look forward to continuing our work with Pakistan to grow and expand our commercial and economic ties, expand our collaboration in education, improve access to renewable energy, and increase agricultural cooperation, between our countries. We also look forward to more cooperation on integrating women into Pakistan’s economy.
