US welcomes Imran Khan's desire for peace with India, Afghanistan

The United States has welcomed newly elected Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks stressing the importance of maintaining peaceful relations with both India and Afghanistan, a senior US State Department official said.

Alice Wells, head of the US State Department’s Bureau for South and Central Asian Affairs, said Washington viewed Khan’s comments positively and hoped Pakistan would pursue greater stability along both of its borders.

“We welcome the words of Prime Minister Imran Khan in which he discussed the importance of peace on both sides of Pakistan’s borders,” Wells said during a press briefing on Monday.

Wells was expected to accompany US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his planned visit to Islamabad in the first week of September. Pompeo was also scheduled to travel to New Delhi and Kabul as part of the regional tour and hold discussions with the newly formed Pakistani leadership.

The US official also highlighted India’s role in Washington’s broader South Asia strategy, particularly in efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.

“Obviously, our South Asia strategy pointed to the role India can and should play” in supporting Afghanistan’s stabilisation, Wells said.

She added that Washington wanted Afghanistan to be more closely integrated with the wider region, while making clear that such integration should not come at the expense of any other country.

“We want to see Afghanistan stitched back into the region,” Wells said.

Her remarks also touched on Washington’s concerns over large infrastructure and lending projects in developing countries where governments have struggled to meet debt repayment obligations.

Without directly naming the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Wells warned against loan arrangements that could leave countries facing unsustainable financial commitments and potentially losing control over strategically important infrastructure.

She suggested that the US and China could cooperate on a range of issues if Beijing moved away from what Washington viewed as lending practices based on unrealistic or unsustainable repayment terms.

The comments came at a significant moment for Pakistan’s foreign policy, with Khan’s new government facing the challenge of balancing relations with India, Afghanistan, China and the United States.

For Washington, Khan’s emphasis on regional peace offered a potentially positive opening, although his government’s ability to translate those statements into concrete diplomatic initiatives remained an important question.