ISLAMABAD: United States’ high level, five-member delegation sent by the White House to diffuse the recent wave of tensions with Pakistan has reached Islamabad.
The delegation is headed by Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South Asian Affairs Peter Lavoy and includes the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson. The delegation is expected to meet Pakistan’s civil and military leadership to discuss the Afghanistan reconciliation process, regional stability as well as Pak-US ties.
Relations between the US and Pakistan worsened after US carried out a drone strike on May 21 that killed the Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour. Pakistan termed the drone strike as an attack on its sovereignty and said that it had negatively affected Pak-US trust. Pakistan also said that this attack has severely hampered the peace process in Afghanistan and had reversed the gains made so far tobring Afghan Taliban on the negotiating table.
The delegation is also expected to meet Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Sartaj Aziz. They will also likely hold meetings with Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security Nasir Khan Janjua and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif.
