US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad Friday morning, on a short visit to discuss how both countries can rebuild trust to fight the war against terrorism.
The Foreign Office said Clinton’s visit would help rebuild trust between Islamabad and Washington.
Clinton will meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani amongst other government officials.
Clinton is the highest-ranking US official to visit Pakistan since the killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabbad on May 2.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, is already in Pakistan for talks on several issues of mutual interest.
Express 24/7 correspondent Sumera Khan reported that the purpose of this trip is to rebuild the trust deficit between the two allies in the war on terror.
“The matter is not simple,” adds Khan. “Experts in Islamabad do not want Clinton’s visit to be brief and feel that the US should realise the sensitivity of the situation and the deteriorating security situation.”
According to AFP, Clinton is to meet President Zardari, General Kayani and the chief of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the State Department said.
Clinton will be accompanied in the meetings by chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and is expected to demand more cooperation from Pakistan in the fight against al Qaeda and Taliban militants.
The United States said that Pakistan has failed to grasp just how much more it must do to quash militancy, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad amid tense relations over the killing of Osama bin Laden.
The discovery of the al Qaeda leader in a garrison town just 50 km (30 miles) away from the capital, Islamabad, on May 2 raised fresh doubts about Pakistan’s reliability as a partner in the US-led war on militancy.
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