WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has decided to send two top-level American officials to Islamabad in near future to hold talks to ease tensions with Pakistan.
Sources said that the White House had decided to send the senior adviser to the US President and US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson to Pakistan. He is due to arrive in Pakistan on Friday, where he will hold talks with the civil and military leadership on a range of topics including Pak-USA relations and regional issues.
Sources also said that the Obama administration was concerned due to the recent downslide in relations between Pakistan and the United States resulting from the May 21 drone attack that killed Taliban Chief. Top-level sources disclosed that the American officials would hold a meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz and Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security Nasir Khan Janjua. Talks would most likely focus on how to take steps for ensuring lasting stability in Afghanistan and to promote regional harmony.
Sources said that a meeting between the American delegation and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz is also on the cards. Relations between the US and Pakistan took a turn for the worse after the drone strike which Pakistan termed as an attack on its sovereignty and claimed that the achievements in the Afghan peace process had also been negatively affected due to the attack.