Pakistan’s future leadership is for Pakistani people to decide, reiterates US

WASHINGTON (92 News) - US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel has reiterated that Pakistan’s future leadership is for the Pakistani people to decide and their interest continues to be in the democratic process.

Responding to queries during a press briefing, he said: "We strongly condemn all instances of election-related violence, both in the weeks preceding elections as well as those that transpired on election day. These kinds of election-related violence, we believe, affected a broad range of political parties across Pakistan. It impacted polling stations, election officers, as well as the election commission."

To a question whether the US-Pakistan ties moving forward, he said: "Our interest is in the democratic process, and we are interested in taking the appropriate steps to continue to foster our relationship, our partnership with the Government of Pakistan, whatever it should be."