Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States will hold the sixth round of the strategic dialogue in Washington on Monday.

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 dialogue 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 Dr Rasul Bakhsh Rais said that Pakistan was in favour of stability and peace in Afghanistan and India. He said that Pakistan was suffering the most from the volatile situation in Afghanistan. He said Islamabad always stated that peace in Afghanistan would benefit Pakistan.

Dr Rais said that Pakistan had accepted the US as a major stakeholder in Afghanistan. He said that Pakistan was trying to bring the Taliban and other Afghan groups on the dialogue table for the next round of talks, which would be held in Pakistan.

He said that Pakistan wanted friendly relations with the US and an end to hostility with India. He said that Pakistan was taking measures for regional stability and countering extremism and terrorism at the same time. He said that Pakistan needed support in its counterterrorism efforts, especially up-to-date technology. He said that Pakistan needed the US to overcome its energy shortage.