Islamabad (Staff Report): US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday arrived in Islamabad on one-day visit to hold talks with the newly elected government of Pakistan.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford is accompanying the US Secretary of State.
The American delegation will hold talks with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his team at the foreign office.
The delegation is also scheduled to hold meetings with senior political and military leadership on bilateral relations and regional security.
The US delegation’s visit has significance at it is going to happen at a time when the relations between the two countries are at the standstill due to undue pressures from the Trump administration on Pakistan to do more.
The visit also comes days after US military said it has made a final decision to cancel $300 million in Coalition Support Funds (CSF) to Pakistan that had been suspended over alleged failure to take decisive action against militants, in a new blow to deteriorating ties.
Earlier, talking to newsmen in Washington prior to leaving for Pakistan, Mike Pompeo expressed the hope for improvement in bilateral ties during the term of new government in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan and the United States will have to make joint efforts to deal with common challenges.
Pompeo added that the US wants Pakistan’s assistance to settle the Afghan issue.
“We need Pakistan to seriously engage to help us get to the reconciliation we need in Afghanistan,” he said.