Pakistan, US to hold strategic talks on Feb 29

Sixth round of dialogue will take place in Washington, Sartaj Aziz and US Secretary of State John Kerry to co-chair

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States will hold a ministerial level ‘strategic dialogue’ in Washington later this month to discuss a range of issues, including bilateral cooperation and regional security.

The 6th round of the Strategic Dialogue will take place on February 29 in the US capital, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Wednesday.



Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and US Secretary of State John Kerry will co-chair the dialogue. This will be the third annual meeting since the PML-N government assumed office in 2013.

The Strategic Dialogue covers cooperation in economy, energy, education, science, law enforcement and counter-terrorism, security, strategic stability, non-proliferation and defence.

Aziz chaired an inter-ministerial meeting on Wednesday to review progress of the previous rounds and prepare for the upcoming round of the Strategic Dialogue to further strengthen partnership with a special focus on expanding trade and investment cooperation, according to the statement. The meeting was attended by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.



The Strategic Dialogue was initiated by the Obama administration in an effort to reassure Pakistan that Washington’s relations with Islamabad were not merely linked with Afghanistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th,  2016.