ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday said that Pakistan wants to have a long term, sustained and multifaceted equation with the United States.

This was stated by the interior minister during his meeting with Mr Richard G. Olson, US Ambassador to Pakistan who called on Nisar at Punjab House today.

During the meeting, both diplomats discussed Pak-US bilateral relations, regional security situation and the recent visit of the interior minister to the US.

Nisar said that long term relations with the US would not only contribute towards bringing the two countries closer to each other but would also contribute significantly towards the promotion of regional peace and development.

The interior minister also said that peace in the region was a shared objective of the two countries and close collaboration and enhancing multifaceted cooperation between the two countries was of great significance for achieving shared goals.

Nisar also appreciated the White House initiative of convening a conference on countering extremism as he believed that the need to have serious discussions and deliberations on this issue was never as great as it is today.

The interior minister reiterated his call that strengthening local communities, winning the trust of mainstream peace-loving majority and building resilience in local communities against radicalization is need of the hour.

He maintained that by addressing the push factors that drive people towards extremism and focusing on education to promote tolerance could form the conceptual bedrock for the global action plan in dealing with violent extremism.

“US administration and President Obama's stance is clear in differentiating between extremism and Islam,” the minister remarked.

Ambassador Olson said that the United States was committed to further strengthening its bilateral relations with Pakistan and enhancing cooperation on issues of mutual concern.