ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State John Kerry is to visit Pakistan in the last week of this month for the first time since taking office, Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said. He said the dates would be announced once finalised.
Pakistan and the US are key allies in the war in Afghanistan and the fight against Al Qaeda, but US drone strikes targeting Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan are the greatest sticking point. Kerry earlier this month defended the strikes although Sharif has called for them to end. After winning the May 11 election, Sharif said he would extend “full support” to the US as it withdraws troops from Afghanistan by next year. Relations nosedived in 2011 after US Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in May. For seven months Pakistan cut off Nato supply lines into Afghanistan after US strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border. AFP
