Hillary arrives for strategic talks

ISLAMABAD:

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan Sunday for strategic talks aimed at bolstering bilateral ties and securing firmer support for the war in Afghanistan.

Clinton arrived by plane in Islamabad before noon, according to an AFP reporter travelling with her, ahead of expected talks with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari in the evening.

On Monday the Secretary of State is due to hold a day of meetings with high-level political, military and business figures to further a "strategic dialogue" aimed at chipping away at anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.

Updated from the print edition (below).

Hillary arrives for strategic talks

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive here on Sunday for a two-day visit to Pakistan to consult with leaders on bilateral and regional issues. She will also participate in a meeting of the bilateral ministerial-level strategic dialogue with Pakistan being held at the Foreign Office on Monday, a statement issued by the US embassy said on Saturday.

Secretary Clinton will also chair a meeting of the strategic dialogue with her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Strategic dialogue working group leaders from both governments will report on the outcomes of their work which has been completed following extensive meetings in the last three months in Pakistan.

During the visit, Secretary Clinton will also directly engage with Pakistani citizens and take their questions in a town hall meeting.

The ministerial-level bilateral strategic dialogue that was launched in Washington on March 24 this year has 13 separate working groups that have met in Islamabad over the past three months on the subjects of agriculture, communications and public diplomacy, defence, economics and finance, education, energy, health, law enforcement and counterterrorism, market access, science and technology, security, strategic stability and nonproliferation, water; and women’s empowerment.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18th, 2010.