The United States and Pakistan share a partnership that dates back to Pakistan’s founding as a nation in 1947.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights of diplomatic relations and friendship over the last 75 years.
The United States became one of the first countries to recognize Pakistan when on August 14, 1947, President Harry S. Truman sent a congratulatory message to Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Truman called Jinnah “the originator of the dream that became Pakistan.” Formal diplomatic relations were established the next day. Above, Truman (left) and Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan of Pakistan (center) meet in Washington May 3, 1950, during Khan’s visit to the United States.
Jacqueline Kennedy’s 1962 trip to Pakistan was the first time a U.S. president’s wife visited the country. She visited Mughal heritage sites in Lahore and traveled to the Khyber Pass on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Above, Kennedy (right) rides a camel with her sister, Lee Radziwill.
In the 1960s, the U.S. government helped fund the construction of the Mangla and Tarbela dams, providing electricity to the country. Above, a Pakistani laborer working on the Mangla Dam project in 1963 takes a break. Later, the U.S. helped build the Gomal Zam Dam.
During his first year in office, President Richard Nixon traveled to Pakistan with his wife Pat. The president said the Pakistani hospitality “cannot be exceeded by any people in the world.” Above, the first lady listens to a Qawwali band during her visit to a Pakistani school August 1, 1969.
Pakistani President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq (left) speaks after an October 3, 1980, White House meeting with President Jimmy Carter and National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski (second row, center). “The people of the United States have the greatest admiration for the courage of the people and the leaders of the great nation of Pakistan,” Carter said.
President George W. Bush (center) and Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shahryar Khan (second from right) gather with young cricket players during a cricket demonstration March 4, 2006, at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
When monsoon rains in 2010 caused heavy flooding in many areas of Pakistan affecting millions, the U.S. responded. Above, U.S. Marines help Pakistani civilians unload relief supplies from a helicopter August 18, 2010, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan.
Vice President Joe Biden (left) meets with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad January 12, 2011. Biden called the U.S.-Pakistan relationship “absolutely vital.”
The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan and the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation have helped restore 31 historic sites, some dating back 2,000 years. Restored buildings include Buddhist monasteries, Hindu monuments, relics of the Mughal Empire and the Hazrat Khwaja Ghulam Farid shrine in Kot Mithan in Punjab (shown above).
President Barack Obama (second from left) stressed cooperation “not just on security matters, but also on economic and scientific and educational affairs,” when he met Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif October 22, 2015, in the White House.
The U.S. government is donating 61.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses and 16 million doses of pediatric vaccines to support Pakistan’s fight against the virus. In July 2022, the two nations launched the U.S.-Pakistan Health Dialogue to strengthen cooperation.
More than 37,000 Pakistanis are alumni of U.S. government exchange programs, the largest such alumni group in the world. Above, some alumni of these exchange programs met with public and private-sector leaders July 16 during a reunion of the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network’s (PUAN) Gilgit Chapter in northern Pakistan.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari discussed expanding the partnership in climate, investment, trade and people-to-people ties during their first face-to-face meeting May 18, 2022, in New York. The secretary called the meeting “an important opportunity for us to talk about the many issues where we’re working together.”
