‘Pakistan part of US discussion with China’

Broad range of developments across Asia-Pacific discussed.

With China being Pakistan’s ‘all-weather friend’, Islamabad is part of America’s ongoing dialogue with the Chinese leaders, the Obama administration said, Press Trust of India reported.

“We do talk to China about Pakistan. Obviously, they’re neighbours. They’ve got a relationship and a history. And so it is part of our ongoing dialogue with China,” State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters at his daily news conference.

Pakistan and other regional issues did figure in talks between US President Barack Obama, and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, at the White House on Wednesday, but no details were available.

“There was a detailed regional discussion. And I can’t specifically say which topics were discussed between President Obama and President Hu Jintao. But a lot of work was done with the respective teams,” Crowley said in response to a question.

“The joint statement is a reflection of not only what the presidents themselves discussed personally, but also what the presidents endorsed in terms of policy understandings that we have reached with China on a wide range of issues,” he said.

“So one of the benefits
of this kind of high-level meeting is that there is a lot of work that’s done both in preparations for the summit and the endorsement by the leaders of the understandings achieved that help our policies go forward,” he said.

“Certainly in this process there was a great deal of discussion on a wide range of regional issues, and it has formed what we’ll be doing right now,” he said.

“For example, in the aftermath of the summit, you’ve got Deputy Secretary Steinberg going back to the region to follow up on our discussion with our other partners in the Six-Party process,” he said.

President Obama and President Hu Jintao did take note of a broad range of regional developments across the Asia-Pacific region, Crowley said when asked if South Asia came up for discussion between Obama and Hu early this week.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2011.