Pakistan, US to hold strategic dialogue

Pakistan and the United States would hold a strategic dialogue in Islamabad this month, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would visit Pakistan for the ministerial dialogue.

She said arrangements for the strategic dialogue, including visit dates, were being finalized.

The last session of the dialogue was held in Washington in January 2014.

The Strategic Dialogue focuses mainly on energy, security, strategic stability, nonproliferation, counterterrorism, economy, law enforcement and defense-related issues.

Talks have taken place in both countries since the dialogue was initiated in 2010. But after 2011, a succession of events and irritants interrupted the process.

Pakistani officials said the resumption of the dialogue last year after a hiatus of three years was seen as an improvement in bilateral relationship after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif assumed office in June last year.

The next round of the dialogue will also be important following the drawdown of ISAF forces in neighboring Afghanistan, which also creates new challenges and opportunities for cooperation.

Sources said both sides would also explore ways and means for transforming the post-2014 U.S.-Pakistan transactional relationship into a strategic partnership.

Islamabad insists that Washington will not look at the country from two specific lenses, namely regarding Afghanistan and terrorism, and will give due importance to Pakistan's own security concerns.

When answering a question about the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan, the spokeswoman said Pakistan has consistently supported a responsible drawdown from its neighboring country.

"The transition in Afghanistan will be completed in an orderly and successful manner. Peace and stability in Afghanistan is vital for Pakistan and the region. Therefore Pakistan will continue to play a constructive role in this regard," Aslam said.

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