Aziz to leave for US by end Jan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz is leaving for Washington in the last week of January for a high-level strategic dialogue, officials said on Wednesday.

While exact dates and makeup of his delegation is being finalised, sources told The Express Tribune that Aziz is likely to be accompanied by senior cabinet members and top army officials.

The two countries agreed to revive strategic dialogue in October last year when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif undertook a maiden bilateral trip to Washington following his party’s victory in the parliamentary
polls.

The ministerial meeting, first since 2010, will be jointly chaired by Aziz and US Secretary of State John Kerry. A government official said the two countries would review the entire spectrum of ties during talks covering economic, trade, counter-terrorism and defence cooperation.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2014.