US Defence Secretary meets PM Abbasi, discusses bilateral ties, regional security
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis arrived in Pakistan on Monday.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - US Secretary of Defense James Mattis called on Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbassi in Islamabad on Monday and discussed different aspects of Pak-US relations especially the regional security situation.
Minister for Defense Khurram Dastgir, Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, National Security Adviser Nasser Khan Janjua, DG ISI Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar and senior officials were present on the occasion.
US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale also attended the meeting.
According to sources, the Prime Minister briefed Mattis on Pakistan’s efforts in war against terrorism and exchanged views on process to establish peace in Afghanistan.
Frosty Pakistan-US Relations
Mattis’s first visit to the country as defense secretary of defense comes as the US pushes its longtime ally to do more to combat militants who target NATO troops in Afghanistan.
US President Donald Trump first signalled that the US was reassessing its fractious relations with Pakistan during a televised speech in August, launching a blistering attack on Islamabad for harbouring "agents of chaos".
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| READ: Trump warns Pakistan will pay for harboring terrorists |
The remarks triggered a series of high-level diplomatic meetings in the US and Pakistan, but Islamabad has given few signs of concessions to Washington.
Pakistan has consistently rejected claims it supports Taliban-allied forces, insisting it maintains contacts with insurgents only as a means to bring them to the table for peace talks.
Last week the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, said Islamabad had not carried out the "clear" demands made by Washington.
"We have not seen those changes implemented yet," he told reporters.
But en route to Pakistan Mattis told reporters he would not use pressure as a tactic and insisted he would do "some listening".
When asked if he would "prod" Islamabad to take more action, he replied: "That’s not the way I deal with issues. I believe that we work hard on finding the common ground, and then we work together, so that’s the approach I want to take."
with inputs from AFP
