Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad Dr Mamadou Tangara has held discussions with the Ambassador of the United States of America to The Gambia, Ambassador Richard C. Paschall in his office in Banjul.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said discussions between the two sides centered on “surging development assistance to The Gambia, synergising efforts on combating COVID-19, regional issues involving ECOWAS, Mali and Ethiopia, among other issues of mutual interest”.
The news release said: “Warmly welcoming Ambassador Paschall and his team to the Foreign Ministry, the Honourable Minister on behalf of the President H.E Adama Barrow commended the Government of the United States of America for the key role played in the entire transition of The Gambia to democracy which he said would not have come to this stage without the collaboration and support of the US Government. Minister Tangara used the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the Government of The Gambia in ensuring free and fair elections.
“To the US Ambassador, the Honourable Minister stated the readiness of the Government of The Gambia to continue working closely with the US Government in various areas, most notably military training as it would be crucial in addressing security challenges in West Africa, Africa and the World at large.
“For his part, Ambassador Paschall thanked the Government of The Gambia and the Honourable Minister for receiving him. He talked about the efforts his Embassy made in informing public about the need to register for the upcoming December 4 Election. Ambassador Paschall highlighted the Facebook post he made on the official Facebook page of the US Embassy calling on Gambians to register for the Election. He said so far, the number of people registered is indeed ‘progressive and promising’.
“The US Ambassador posited the need for Banjul and Washington to continue collaborating in meeting aspirations of Gambians in relations to the draft constitution and also on finalising details on Gambia’s requirement for COVID-19 vaccines.
“He said the US Embassy has done consultations with The Gambia’s Ambassador to Washington, H.E. Dawda Fadera in a bid to giving vaccine support to The Gambia.
“Ambassador Paschall thanked the Government of The Gambia for the support extended to the Government of the United States at multilateral level, thus renewed the commitment of the US Government to further strengthen the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries.
“Ambassador Paschall was accompanied to the Foreign Ministry by Michael E. Lee, Senior Defence Official, Jack Conley, Commander, USN Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation (Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau) and Daniel M. Capone Political and Economic Officer U.S. Embassy Banjul.”