Pakistan and the U.S. are set to hold defence talks in Washington on February 13 to enhance coordination on strategic issues and explore various options for ramping up bilateral military and security ties, the foreign office in Islamabad has announced.
The talks, that will last from Monday to Thursday, would be the second round of the Pakistan-US Mid-Level Defence Dialogue after the first round was held in Pakistan in January 2021, it said in a statement on Sunday.
The Pakistani team, headed by the Chief of General Staff (CGS) Lt Gen Mohammed Saeed, reached the U.S. capital on Sunday afternoon. The delegation includes two major generals, two brigadiers and a civilian representative, Additional Secretary for Americas Muhammad Mudassir Tipu from the Foreign Ministry.
They will interact with their counterparts at the U.S. Defence Department, which is also known as the Pentagon. The CGS heads the second most influential office in the Pakistan Army after the Chief of Army Staff. He is the administrative head of both intelligence and operational forces.
"Pakistan’s inter-agency delegation, led by the chief of general staff, will comprise senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Joint Staff Headquarters and three services headquarters. The U.S. multi-agency team will be represented by the office of the Undersecretary of Defence,” the foreign office said.
“Issues of bilateral defence and security cooperation will be discussed during the defence dialogue,” the Ministry said.
Ties between the two countries have improved recently and the defence talks are kind of its manifestation, it added.
The agenda of the four-day talks includes expanding coordination on strategic issues between the two defence establishments, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Counterterrorism dialogue next month
The newspaper also reported that U.S. State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet in an interview with the paper emphasised the need to assist Islamabad in fighting terrorists, who had recently killed over 80 people inside a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines compound.
Mr. Chollet, who conducts special diplomatic assignments for the U.S. Secretary of State, is due in Islamabad the coming week for talks on a wide range of issues, the report said.
“For the U.S., it’s going to be about how we can deepen the partnership further and help Pakistan as it’s trying to deal with what is an unquestionably challenging economic situation,” said the senior U.S. diplomat when asked what the top item on his agenda would be.
He said Pakistan was still recovering from the floods and was also dealing with an “emerging counterterrorism threat”, which had made the situation even worse.
Mr. Chollet pointed out that the U.S. and Pakistan were already taking steps to further strengthen their ties which went through a phase of disengagement during the Afghan war but started improving soon after the withdrawal of US troops from Kabul.
“I believe the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks will be here in Washington in the last week of February, so the week after I’m back … and we will also hold a counterterrorism dialogue next month,” he said.
The report also noted that the counterterrorism dialogue, which may be held in Islamabad next month, will focus on groups like the banned militant outfits Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State-Khorasan, which have restarted their activities in the region.
