ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is holding talks with hisPakistani counterpart Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the ForeignOffice Islamabad.
He arrived at the Foreign Office on Wednesday to hold talks with ForeignMinister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Pompeo was received by Qureshi upon reaching the Foreign Office from NurKhan Airbase.
The US secretary of state is accompanied by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff General Joseph Dunford and a four-member US delegation.
Delegation-level talks will be held between Pakistan and US at the ForeignOffice.
Earlier this afternoon, Pompeo landed in Islamabad and was received byofficials of the Foreign Ministry.
This is the first high-level visit from Washington since the new governmentassumed office.
Pompeo is also expected to call on Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army ChiefGeneral Qamar Jawed Bajwa during his brief stay in the capital, diplomaticsources said.
Hope Pakistan, US will leave past behind: Pompeo
Speaking to the media from his airplane en route to Islamabad, Pompeo saidhe hopes to reset the relations between the two countries.
“We hope that both countries could leave the past behind and begin to makeprogress,” Pompeo said.
“We will have three opportunities to walk through the complexity that isthis relationship and hopefully begin to make some progress so that we canget back to set of common understandings. So that’s really the verystraightforward objective,” the US secretary of state regarding his visit.
Pompeo also indicated that the Trump administration could release aid toPakistan that was halted earlier this year.
“Pakistan was told this past summer that they weren’t likely to get thatmoney,” the Secretary said.
Stating that the rationale for Pakistan not getting the money is veryclear, he said, “It’s that we haven’t seen the progress that we need to seefrom them.”
“And the very reason for this trip is to try and articulate what it is ourexpectation is, the things that they can do, the things that they expect usto do, and see if we can’t find a path forward together,” he upheld.
Further, Pompeo stressed on Pakistan’s assistance and help to resolveissues related to stability in Afghanistan.