Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will raise the issue of border violations by India's troops as well as its spy agency RAW's involvement in terrorism in Pakistan during his visit to the US next week, informed sources told Business Recorder. The Prime Minister will also discuss other areas of mutual co-operation including defence, counter-terrorism, trade and economy with the US leadership.
The Prime Minister, according to the Foreign Office, will undertake a three-day official visit to the US starting from October 20 at the invitation of US President Barack Obama. He will meet President Obama on October 22 at the White House and hold discussions on issues of mutual interest including fight against terrorism and the regional situation. Pakistan's efforts to restore peace in Afghanistan through an intra-Afghan dialogue and US concerns about Islamabad's nuclear programme are likely to dominate the Prime Minister's talks at the White House.
In his meeting with President Obama, the sources said that the Prime Minister will also brief him about his vision of good neighbourly relations with all the regional countries including India and Afghanistan. The Prime Minister is also expected to reiterate Pakistan's willingness to hold talks on all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute, as agreed in Ufa with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi but without any preconditions for dialogue.
During the discussions with the US leadership, the sources said the Prime Minister will particularly highlight the continued violations on the LoC and the Working Boundary by the Indian troops as well as RAW's involvement in incidents of terrorism in Balochistan, Karachi and Fata.
Pakistan recently shared three dossiers containing evidence of Indian involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan with the United Nations and it was not clear whether they would also be shared with the US leadership. Afghanistan, according to the sources, would be another important item of agenda of the talks between Prime Minister Sharif and President Obama. They said that Pakistan would reiterate its position on Afghan reconciliation as well as its willingness to host another round of talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban provided both sides agreed.
The visit comes at a time when President Obama announced on Thursday he will maintain the current number of American troops in Afghanistan and reiterated Washington's support for an Afghan-led reconciliation process to achieve lasting peace in the strife-torn nation.
"Next week, I will host Prime Minister Sharif of Pakistan, and I will continue to urge all parties in the region to press the Taliban to return to peace talks and to do their part in pursuit of the peace that Afghans deserve," Obama said in a statement.
Pakistan successfully facilitated the first direct interaction between Afghan Taliban and Afghan government on July 7 this year in Murree. However, a scheduled second round was postponed indefinitely after the confirmation of death of Taliban founding leader Mullah Omar late July. During the visit, the Prime Minister will also hold meetings with Chairman House Foreign Affairs Committee and members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Prime Minister is also scheduled to hold interaction with Pakistan-US Business Council and US Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The other engagements of the Prime Minister include talks at the United States Institute of Peace as well as interaction with Pakistani community.
Comments
Comments are closed.