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Thursday, August 01, 2013
Kerry arrives in Pakistan for key talksISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Pakistan late on Wednesday to press the new government on eliminating militant safe-havens as US-led troops prepare to leave Afghanistan.
He arrived in Islamabad shortly before 9pm ahead of meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani on Thursday. Pakistani-US relations have been deeply troubled in recent years but recovered at least somewhat from the crisis sparked by the US killing of al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden in May 2011. But US officials say they are hopeful that Nawaz’s election and the impending withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan offer a new opportunity to rework relations along realistic objectives. Kerry’s arrival has been hotly anticipated in Islamabad, where he visited numerous times as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and where he is respected. As a co-author of a 2009 bill that sought to dispense $7.5 billion in civilian aid over five years, he has been at the vanguard of US efforts to strengthen the civilian administration in Pakistan.
Since winning the May election, Nawaz has said he wants to strengthen Pakistan’s relations with Washington, but that the United States must take seriously concerns about drone strikes. He has made economic growth and resolving the energy crisis the top priority of his new administration, but Kerry will be looking to stress that more must be done on militant havens. “They will only be able to confront their own domestic security issues, they will only be able to provide economic stability and a place for investments, they will only be able to have stable neighbours if they take a greater control over safe havens,” said a US official. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk