Imran Khan to visit US next month: report

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is scheduled to visit the US on July 20 during which he would hold face-to-face talks with US President Donald Trump for the first time, according to a media report.

The visit, originally planned in June, was postponed because of prime minister Khan's prior domestic engagements, especially due to federal budget 2019.

Khan would begin his five-day trip from July 20 during which he would hold first face-to-face talks with Trump, official sources confirmed to the Express Tribune paper on Friday.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday told reporters that a meeting between Prime Minister Khan and Trump was expected soon. He, however, did not share the date of the visit.

Qureshi said the prime minister would be visiting Washington on the invitation of President Trump, who wanted to discuss important regional issues.

This would be the first high-level engagement between the two countries under the Trump administration's tenure, and comes at a time when talks between the US and Afghan Taliban are thought to have entered decisive phase.

Relations between Pakistan and the US have remained tense during the Trump's tenure. The US president has publically said that Pakistan has given us "nothing but lies and deceit" and also suspended security and other assistance for backing terror groups.

The US has repeatedly asked Pakistan to end its support to the militant organisations operating from within its territory against India and Afghanistan.

Efforts for arranging the Imran-Trump meeting have been going on for months, the report said.

Some officials linked the two leaders' summit with possible positive outcome of the ongoing efforts seeking peace deal in Afghanistan.

Though the bilateral ties have been hit, the US president has expressed his desire to work with the Imran-led government.