Pakistan, US to hold strategic talks on Monday

Islamabad, Feb 28 (IANS) Pakistan and the US will hold the sixth round of the strategic dialogue in Washington on Monday, the media reported.

Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime minister on national security and foreign affairs, will lead the Pakistani side. US Secretary of State John Kerry will lead his team to the talks, the Daily Times reported.

The talks will focus on Pakistan’s economic growth, trade and regional stability, energy cooperation and extremism and terrorism. The two sides will review the progress made by the working groups on economy and finance, defence, law enforcement and counterterrorism, security, strategic stability and non-proliferation and energy.

The last strategic dialogue was held in Islamabad in January 2015.

The strategic dialogue process started in 2010, but it was interrupted in 2011 when a US midnight raid in Abbottabad killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The process resumed in 2014.

Political analyst Rasul Bakhsh Rais said that Pakistan was in favour of stability and peace in Afghanistan and India.