Pakistan is calling on the U.S. State Department to amend a record of a phone call between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the country’s new Prime Minister, Imran Khan.
In a statement obtained by Reuters, Pakistan’s foreign ministry called the U.S. record of the call “factually incorrect” and asserts that the two men did not discuss militants operating on Pakistani soil, the existence of which Pakistan denies.
{mosads}U.S. transcripts of the call state that Pompeo and Khan discussed the U.S.’s wishes for Pakistan to take “decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan.”
U.S. officials believe that cells of the Taliban operate out of areas close to Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.
“Pakistan takes exception to the factually incorrect statement issued by U.S. State Dept on today’s phone call,” a spokesman for the foreign ministry said.
“There was no mention at all in the conversation about terrorists operating in Pakistan. This should be immediately corrected,” he added.
The State Department has pushed back, saying that it stands by its readout of the call. Khan was sworn in as prime minister last week.
“I can only say we stand by our readout,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters on Thursday, according to Reuters.
“The secretary had a good call with the new prime minister and we look forward to having a good relationship with them in the future,” she added.
Pompeo is expected to meet with Khan on Sept. 5, which Reuters reports is expected to be the new leader’s first reception with a foreign dignitary.
In 2011, terrorist leader and 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan after having found to have been living in a private compound in Abbottabad after years on the run.