ISLAMABAD, February 17: Pakistan and the United States will hold strategic dialogue in Washington later this month that covers a wide-range of issues including security, anti-terrorism and economic cooperation, officials said on Wednesday.
It will be the 6th “Ministerial level Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue” since the dialogue process began in 2010. The fifth session was held in Islamabad in January last year. Pakistan’s top Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, and the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, will lead their respective sides on February 29, the Foreign Ministry said.
A Foreign Ministry statement said the six segments of the Strategic Dialogue include cooperation in Economy and Finance, Energy, Education, Science and Technology, Law Enforcement and Counter Terrorism, Security, Strategic Stability and Non-Proliferation and Defence will come under discussion.
“The upcoming meeting will afford an important opportunity to take stock of the entire gamut of Pakistan’s bilateral relations with the United States,” the statement said.
The process was disrupted in 2011 when the U.S. forces conducted a unilateral raid to kill the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. The process was restored in 2014.
Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif’s visit to the U.S. in October 2015 had provided necessary impetus and direction to the dialogue mechanism, the Foreign Ministry said. It would be third meeting since Mr Sharif has assumed office in 2013.
The Advisor presided over an Inter-Ministerial Meeting on Wednesday, which was held to review progress of the previous rounds and prepare for the upcoming strategic dialogue to further strengthen the partnership with special focus on expanding trade and investment cooperation.
The meeting was attended by Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Planning, Development & Resources and Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources. Federal Secretaries dealing with Commerce, Defence, EAD, Finance, Interior, Planning & Development, Water & Power, BOI, Chairman FBR, and Representatives of NACTA, Ministry of Climate Chang and the GHQ also attended. -DNA
