US-Pak ‘preparatory’ talks in Washington to pave way for strategic dialogue
March 26th, 2011 - 5:28 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Mar 26(ANI): Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir is expected to visit Washington in a few days for talks aimed at ironing out the differences that have adversely affected the US-Pakistan relationship.
The talks will precede the next round of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue in Islamabad, which will be attended by a high-level US delegation, possibly headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“Both sides felt the need to have preparatory talks before next month’s dialogue,” the Dawn quoted a diplomatic source, as saying.
The third session of the US-Pak ministerial-level dialogue was held in Washington on October 20-22, 2010 with the intention of transforming the bilateral relationship into a broad partnership reflecting shared democratic values, mutual respect, trust and interests.
The dialogue also led to the creation of 13 working groups that work upon action plans and delineate achievable benchmarks.
But the process hit a snag with the arrest of CIA contractor Raymond Davis for shooting dead two Pakistani men in Lahore on January 27, and the diplomatic standoff continued until Davis was released after paying ‘blood money’ to the heirs of his victims on March 16.
Now that the Raymond Davis row has come to an end, both countries are working together to resume their strategic dialogue and other high-level contacts that were delayed by recent strains in their bilateral relationship.
“Yet, we felt that we need to have more talks before we restart the dialogue process,” the diplomatic source said. (ANI)
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Tags: bashir, benchmarks, bilateral relationship, blood money, cia contractor, democratic values, diplomatic source, groups that work, heirs, hillary clinton, islamabad, lahore, ministerial level, mutual respect, preparatory talks, raymond davis, salman, snag, standoff, working groups