Diplomatic ties: Kerry likely to visit Pakistan soon, says Hoagland

US envoy appreciates new government’s efforts to revive country’s economy.

ISLAMABAD:

US Secretary of State John Kerry will be visiting Pakistan very soon, according to Richard E Hoagland, the deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Islamabad.

Talking to reporters at a local hotel on Wednesday, the US envoy said that the recent meeting between Kerry and the Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz at the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Aseans) Regional Forum in Brunei had been fruitful. Without giving any dates, he added the US secretary of state was expected to arrive in Pakistan very soon.

“We don’t know of the time as of now, but he is surely coming to Pakistan soon,” Hoagland maintained.

Meanwhile, the US envoy said that the new Pakistan government’s focus on other imperative concerns, such as an economic revival in the country, meant that terrorism had been placed on the backburner.

“The new government is focused on economic revival over other issues for now,” he noted, adding that terrorism and security followed it in terms of priority.

At the same time, however, Hoagland appreciated the new government’s decision to focus on prime matters such as economy.

When asked about the drone policy for Pakistan, the US envoy said that the US was engaged in several programmes in various sectors, such as education, which would bring about the change Pakistani people want to see.

Talking about Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s first official visit to China, he said every country in the world is sovereign and makes its own decisions.

“Countries are partners for diplomatic reasons, so they make their own decisions.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2013.