Amb Sheikh and Rep Ron Estes Discuss Working Together on Shared Concerns
By Elaine Pasquini
Washington: Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, and Congressman Ron Estes held a successful meeting on November 21, 2024, in the congressman’s Capitol Hill office. In their timely discussion, the two deliberated on ways to strengthen the longtime relationship between Pakistan and the United States.
Since April 2017, the Republican congressman has served the fourth congressional district of Kansas, which includes Wichita, the largest city in the state with a population of about 400,000. Long known as a center of entrepreneurship, it is the financial, commercial, and aviation hub of the state.
The ambassador and congressman discussed economic and security issues, along with increasing cooperation in trade, investment, and healthcare, particularly with the State of Kansas.
The Sunflower State of some three million and Pakistan, with a population of 241 million, both have a large agricultural industry. Kansas produces nearly 20 percent of all wheat grown in the US, while Pakistan’s agricultural sector is a major part of the country’s economy and constitutes about 24 percent of the country’s GDP. In addition, it accounts for half of the employed labor force and is the largest source of foreign exchange earnings.
Ambassador Sheikh and Rep Estes are both looking forward to working together in the coming new year.
(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)