U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Mr. Richard A. Boucher, called on Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri at the Foreign Office

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Mr. Richard A. Boucher, called on Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri at the Foreign Office. The discussions focused on Pakistan-U.S. relations and Afghanistan.

The Foreign Minister underlined the importance of a broad-based, long-term, strategic relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. and the deepening of cooperation in the agreed areas of economy, energy, education, and science & technology. Various aspects of bilateral relations were reviewed, including FATA Development Plan and capacity-building for the Frontier Corps (FC).

Assistant Secretary Boucher expressed U.S. commitment to a strong, broad-based relationship with Pakistan. He apprised the Foreign Minister of the efforts undertaken by the Administration to support the various initiatives with Pakistan in the U.S. Congress. He added that the visits of senior Administration officials and several Congressional delegations to Pakistan in the recent past had contributed to deeper understanding on issues of mutual interest and moving the bilateral agenda forward. He said the U.S. side was looking forward to the visit of the Foreign Minister to Washington next week.

Foreign Minister Kasuri reiterated Pakistan's commitment to fight extremism and terrorism and highlighted Pakistan's efforts to strengthen security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The Foreign Minister also apprised Mr. Boucher of the trilateral discussions in Turkey and the participation of the Foreign Ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the G-8 meeting in Potsdam, Germany. The Assistant Secretary was also apprised of the status of discussions on the jirga process as well as Pakistan-Afghanistan political and economic contacts on the bilateral plane. Mr. Boucher expressed U.S. support for all efforts contributing to the process of peace and stabilization in Afghanistan.

Assistant Secretary Boucher is on his third visit to Pakistan this year. This is part of the regular consultations that both sides hold periodically. Before calling on the Foreign Minister, Mr. Boucher met with Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and attended a working luncheon hosted by Additional Secretary (Americas), Mr. Shahid Kamal.

Islamabad

13 June, 2007