US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is arriving in Islamabad on an important visit today (Friday) to discuss bilateral ties and issues related to war on terror with top Pakistani leadership, as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen arrived here on Thursday on a two-days visit, it was learnt.
Pakistan-US bilateral relations, war against terrorism and regional issues would be discussed during her meetings with Pakistani civilian and military leadership, sources told Business Recorder. The sources said that Clinton's talks with Pakistani leadership would mainly focus on May 2 incident in which al Qaeda top leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a US unilateral raid.
However, Clinton visit could not be confirmed from US Embassy in Islamabad but media has been invited for a press briefing today (Friday) to be addressed by 'top' US officials what seems to keep her visit 'a tightly guarded secret' due to security reasons. When contacted several times Foreign Office Spokesperson, Tehmina Janjua was not available for comments on this high profile visit. Meanwhile, Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Islamabad on a two-day visit on Thursday. He would assist US Secretary of State in talks with Pakistani leadership.
Diplomatic circles attach great importance to the visit of US Secretary of State at a time when the already existing mistrust between the two allies in the war on terror is at lowest ebb over the presence of Osama bin Laden for many years in Abbottabad in a compound situated near Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) who was latter killed in an unilateral US Seals raid.
The sources said that Clinton is arriving Pakistan in the backdrop of the extensive talks held between the high officials of the two countries to built 'new trust'. It is pertinent to mention that US top officials visited Pakistan last week including Senator John Kerry, chairman US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Marc Grossman, US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan and Mark Morrell, CIA deputy chief and tried to mend fences after OBL's killing.