US envoy Wells holds talks with FO officials on bilateral relations, Afghanistan

 

ISLAMABAD: Alice Wells, the United States Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to follow up on Qureshi-Pompeo meetings in Washington.

Wells led US delegation level talks with Foreign Office officials led by Additional Secretary of Americas Aftab Ahmad Khokher. During the talks, bilateral relations, regional security and peace and stability in Afghanistan were discussed.  

In a tweet on Monday, Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said: "The aim would be to follow up on discussions between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and [US] Secretary of State Michael Pompeo with a view to further strengthen bilateral relations," Faisal said.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi visited the US for 10 days in September-October, where he held meetings with numerous important leaders and think tanks in the US, as well as the Pakistani diaspora.

Of bilateral relations with the US and matters of mutual interest, Qureshi had said they had made "significant progress". US officials had made critical comments about Pakistan in the past, he  had said, adding that over the past year, Islamabad was "bombarded with criticism".

But, there had been a "visible change in how the US conducted talks this time", he had commented. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was "ready to listen" to what Pakistan had to stay, especially after his visit to Islamabad last month.