No peace in region without Pakistan: US

No peace in region without Pakistan: US

U.S. Senator John McCain said on Sunday there could be "no peace" in Afghanistan or the rest of the region without Pakistan's cooperation, as he visited Islamabad ahead of a review from the United States of its Afghan war strategy.

McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, met Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan's top foreign policy official, and also met army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

"Our relationship is more important perhaps than ever before," McCain told Pakistan TV as he left the meeting.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is exploring hardening its approach toward Islamabad over Pakistan-based militants launching attacks in Afghanistan, two U.S. officials told Reuters last month.

"We will not have peace in the region without Pakistan," McCain, who was accompanied by senators Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse and David Perdue, said later.