Washington, USA:
The US said Wednesday that government vessels will be allowed to sail free of charge through the Panama Canal, following heavy pressure from President Donald Trump.
“U.S. government vessels can now pass through the Panama Canal without charging them, saving the US government millions of dollars a year,” the State Department said in a post on social media platform X.
This was the first public announcement of the promise suggested by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said Panama had offered concessions during the meeting on Sunday.
Rubio told Panama that the United States is in a position to protect important waterways and that it would be unfair to be billed for its use.
Since winning the US election in November, Trump has refused to rule out the use of force to seize the canal. Trump and Rubio have complained about China's investment, including ports on both sides of the canal, warning that Beijing could close waterways to the US in the crisis.
Panama forcedly denied Trump's repeated allegations that China was given a role in running the canal.
But it is also moving to address our concerns. President Jose Raul Murino said after meeting with Rubio that Panama will not renew its membership in Beijing's signature infrastructure building program, Belt and Road Initiative.
Rubio told reporters Monday that his discussion with Murino was “respectful” and that the visit would “achieves potentially good things that will ease the concerns we have.” Ta.
But Trump admitted that Panama “consents certain things,” but he said he was “not happy.”
The US and Panama are scheduled to hold new consultations on Friday to discuss the canal.
In his inaugural speech, Trump said the United States would “reclaim” the canal – more than a century ago Washington built it with Afro-Caribbean workers and returned to Panama at the end of 1999.
(Except for the headlines, this story is not edited by the NDTV staff and is published from Shinjikate Feed.)
