WASHINGTON: US State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet will arrive in Islamabad this week with an inter-agency team, as Washington underlines the need to continue dialogue with Pakistan on a broad range of issues.
Mr Chollet will lead an inter-agency delegation to Bangladesh and Pakistan from Feb 14 to 18, the US State Department said in a press note.
In Pakistan, the delegation will meet senior officials to discuss strengthening economic ties, cooperating to address the impacts of the climate crisis, and expanding the people-to-people connections between the United States and Pakistan, the State Department said.
Counselor Chollet will convey US condolences for the recent terrorist attack at a Peshawar mosque and reaffirm our solidarity with the Pakistani people as they continue to recover from the devastating 2022 floods,” the note added.
At a news briefing in Washington, State Department spokesperson Ned Price noted that the US and Pakistan were also holding mid-level defence talks in Washington. He said he could not comment on the defence talks as those were held at the Pentagon, but the dialogue conveys “the broader point … that we maintain a dialogue with Pakistan on a broad range of issues”.
