Kicking off New Year, Ambassador Sheikh Meets with US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman
By Elaine Pasquini
Washington, DC: Continuing his ongoing engagements with US leaders, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, began the new year with a positive meeting on January 7, 2026, with Rep Brian Mast (R-FL), chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
Exchanging New Year’s greetings, the two reaffirmed their mutual commitment to work together to further strengthen bilateral relations between the United States and Pakistan. The ambassador also thanked Chairman Mast for his leadership efforts to advance good relations between the two longtime allies.
Referring to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s resolve to transform bilateral relations into a long-term sustainable partnership based on economic cooperation, Ambassador Sheikh said that 2026 should be declared the “Year of Action.” He further stressed the need to initiate a high-level economic dialogue between Pakistan and the United States at the earliest opportunity to bolster cooperation in the fields of energy, defense minerals, information technology and artificial intelligence.
Pakistan, he added, with its low costs and high-quality capabilities, is well-positioned to meet the growing demands of the large US market, including for surgical instruments and related products for which Pakistan is renowned worldwide for their excellent quality.
In the sports equipment field, Ambassador Sheikh pointed out that the continued use of soccer balls manufactured in the small town of Sialkot in the northeastern part of Pakistan during the past five FIFA Cups is clear testament to his country’s excellence in the sports goods sector.
In an in-depth discussion with Chairman Mast on the regional situation, the ambassador warned that terrorism emanating from Afghanistan still poses a serious threat to Pakistan’s security as well as to regional and international peace.
Ambassador Sheikh related that terrorist incidents in Pakistan rose by 40 percent in 2024 with an additional increase of 25 percent in 2025 due to the activities of militants operating from neighboring Afghanistan.
In addition, the ambassador expressed his deep concern on the continued misuse and aggressive deployment of military weapons left behind in Afghanistan by US troops following their withdrawal in August of 2021 after an almost 20-year occupation of the country. Chairman Mast and Ambassador Sheikh both reaffirmed their mutual commitment to further strengthening cooperation in the security and counter-terrorism sectors.
Extending an invitation to the chairman to visit Pakistan, he noted such a visit would help strengthen parliamentary and people-to-people ties.
(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)
