ISLAMABAD: Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, who is in the United States on a five-day visit, met the Secretary of State John Kerry. According to the ISPR, the army chief, discussed regional security with respect to India and Afghanistan, and the need for regional stability.
The military’s media wing said General Raheel specifically emphasised Paksitan’s perspective on regional security, reiterating the country’s desire to strengthen and solidify Pak-US relations based on mutual interest and respect. The US secretary of state acknowledged Pakistan’s contributions and sacrifices in the fight against terror, the ISPR statement added. The COAS also discussed with Kerry the Afghan reconciliation process, its challenges, and the way forward.
The director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Lt Gen Asim Bajwa, informed through a series of tweets that General Raheel met John Kerry on Wednesday to talk about issues related to regional stability. Challenges related to Afghanistan and India, and the measures to solve them dominated the discussion between the two dignitaries, Bajwa said. Kerry acknowledged the contributions and the enormous sacrifices made by Pakistan in its fight against terrorism, the ISPR chief said.
Gen Raheel and John Kerry talked about Afghan owned reconciliation and the way forward in this regard. On this occasion, the army chief also reiterated Pakistan’s desire to solidify US-Pak relations based on mutual interest and respect.
Earlier on Monday, the COAS met CIA chief John Brennan and discussed security challenges facing the region and the way forward to confront these. The army chief stressed the need for a conducive environment in the region for re-initiating an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process while the CIA director acknowledged the accomplishments of Zarb-i-Azb and its positive impact on the security calculus.
While on Tuesday, Gen Raheel met US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter and Deputy Secretary of Defence Robert O. Work, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) Gen Joseph Dunford, Army Chief of Staff Gen Mark Milley and Centcom (Central Command) chief Gen Lloyd Austin.
During the meetings, Gen Raheel and American officials discussed defence cooperation between US and Pakistan and the need for enhanced defence coordination. The army chief is in the United States on a five-day visit, in a trip analysts have said will underscore security issues facing Islamabad and Washington in the region as well as the dynamics relating to civilian-military ties within Pakistan.
