ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday telephoned chief of Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz Sharif, and congratulated him on winning general elections.
Kerry is hoping to visit Pakistan soon, once the new government of incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif is in place, a US official said.
The two men already spoke on the phone on Sunday, when the top US diplomat called Sharif “to congratulate him on his strong showing in Saturday’s elections,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
Kerry also told Sharif that he looks forward to working with the government as the government is formed in Pakistan.
Ties between the two countries soured after the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011 by US Navy SEALS when he was allegedly tracked down to his compound in Abbottabad, after a decade on the run.
The killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a US-led NATO air strike in November 2011 then led Islamabad to cut off land routes into Afghanistan used by US troops for re-supplying their forces.
