Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will make an official visit to the US next week for talks with the top American leadership, the Foreign Office said today.
Khar’s visit to the US during September 18-22 was announced a day after she held talks with the visiting US
Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman.
The two leaders discussed the regional situation, especially the reconciliation process in Afghanistan that is
crucial for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the war-torn country.
During her visit to Washington, Khar will hold meetings with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, US Trade Representative Ron Krik and other senior officials, the Foreign Office said in a brief statement.
Khar will interact with several representatives of the US Congress, academics and think tanks.
She will speak at the Council on Foreign Relations, SAIS and Asia Society in New York.
Khar will later travel to New York to join the Pakistani delegation led by President Asif Ali Zardari that will
participate in the United Nations General Assembly session.
Pakistan and the US have taken tentative steps to bring their troubled relationship on an even keel after Islamabad
reopened NATO supply routes to Afghanistan in July, ending a seven-month blockade.
The routes were closed after a cross-border NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November.
Relations between the two countries were hit by a series of crises last year, including the killing of two Pakistani men by a CIA contractor in Lahore, the unilateral US military raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the NATO air strike.
During her meeting yesterday with Grossman, Khar expressed the hope that her upcoming visit to Washington “would provide an opportunity to discuss vital issues based on mutual respect and mutual interest to move forward”.
The US has asked Pakistan to help in bringing Afghan militant groups to the negotiating table to help end the
decade-old conflict in Afghanistan.
Several key militant groups, including the Haqqani network and the ‘shura’ (council) of the Afghan Taliban, are based in Pakistani territory.
Pakistan is believed to have offered to facilitate the safe passage but insisted that an intra-Afghan dialogue is a
prerequisite for the success of any initiative, the Pakistani media reported.
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