Consultation: US ambassador meets PM ahead of Kerry’s visit
Finalises agenda for US Secretary of State’s upcoming trip
Finalises agenda for US Secretary of State’s upcoming trip. PHOTO: PPI
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan and the United States are scheduled to hold a crucial round of ‘strategic dialogue’ next week in Islamabad to discuss a range of issues, including bilateral cooperation and the current regional security situation.
Ahead of the dialogue, US Ambassador Richard Olson met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday to finalise the agenda. Prime Minister Nawaz was accompanied by Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and his Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi.
According to the official statement, matters relating to Pak-US relations with particular reference to the upcoming visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry came under discussion.
Kerry will be visiting Pakistan days after the US finally ended its 13-year-long combat mission in neighbouring Afghanistan. During his stay, Kerry apart from attending the strategic dialogue will hold talks with the top civil and military leadership.
The strategic dialogue was initiated by the Obama Administration in an effort to reassure the skeptical Pakistan that its relations with Islamabad were not merely linked with Afghanistan.
Under the strategic dialogue, there are several working groups on energy, counter-terrorism and trade and economic cooperation. The strategic dialogue in Islamabad will review progress achieved so far during the working groups.
A senior foreign office official told The Express Tribune that the strategic dialogue is about bilateral cooperation between the two countries in various fields. However, during Kerry’s visit, the two sides will also discuss the current regional security situation including Afghanistan, he added.
The two sides are also expected to discuss the repercussions of last month’s attack on a military-run school in Peshawar in which scores of children were killed. In the wake of Peshawar massacre, Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership agreed on a series of steps including military courts to take the ongoing fight against terrorism to its decisive and logical end.
Kerry’s visit comes just weeks before US President Barack Obama travels to New Delhi for a state visit to India. Officials said the issue of ongoing cross-border firing between Pakistan and India along the working boundary will certainly come up for discussions during Kerry’s visit.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2014.
Pakistan and the United States are scheduled to hold a crucial round of ‘strategic dialogue’ next week in Islamabad to discuss a range of issues, including bilateral cooperation and the current regional security situation.
Ahead of the dialogue, US Ambassador Richard Olson met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday to finalise the agenda. Prime Minister Nawaz was accompanied by Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and his Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi.
According to the official statement, matters relating to Pak-US relations with particular reference to the upcoming visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry came under discussion.
Kerry will be visiting Pakistan days after the US finally ended its 13-year-long combat mission in neighbouring Afghanistan. During his stay, Kerry apart from attending the strategic dialogue will hold talks with the top civil and military leadership.
The strategic dialogue was initiated by the Obama Administration in an effort to reassure the skeptical Pakistan that its relations with Islamabad were not merely linked with Afghanistan.
Under the strategic dialogue, there are several working groups on energy, counter-terrorism and trade and economic cooperation. The strategic dialogue in Islamabad will review progress achieved so far during the working groups.
A senior foreign office official told The Express Tribune that the strategic dialogue is about bilateral cooperation between the two countries in various fields. However, during Kerry’s visit, the two sides will also discuss the current regional security situation including Afghanistan, he added.
The two sides are also expected to discuss the repercussions of last month’s attack on a military-run school in Peshawar in which scores of children were killed. In the wake of Peshawar massacre, Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership agreed on a series of steps including military courts to take the ongoing fight against terrorism to its decisive and logical end.
Kerry’s visit comes just weeks before US President Barack Obama travels to New Delhi for a state visit to India. Officials said the issue of ongoing cross-border firing between Pakistan and India along the working boundary will certainly come up for discussions during Kerry’s visit.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2014.