US admits to four-year tumultuous relationship with Pakistan

Islamabad: US Secretary of State John Kerry began talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday after arriving late on Wednesday during a long-anticipated visit to Pakistan.

The talks are likely to be dominated by the fight against militants as US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014. Kerry is to also hold talks with outgoing President Asif Ali Zardari and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. According to the Express Tribune, US officials said they are hopeful that with the onset of a more stable government under Nawaz will offer a new opportunity to rework long-stalled relations between the two nations. A senior US official said that they have obviously seen a pretty tumultuous relationship with Pakistan over the course of the last four and a half years. An official said that Sharif has made economic growth and resolving the energy crisis the top priority of his new administration, but Kerry will be looking to stress that more must be done on militant havens. According to the report, Pakistan`s nuclear arsenal and drone attacks are expected to be part of the discussions. A senior US administration official said that the whole purpose of the talks is to have a very comprehensive, robust, serious and a very real conversation on mutual and national security interests. It is the first visit by a US secretary of state to Pakistan since October 2011 when Hillary Clinton visited the nation and urged Islamabad to dismantle havens for Afghan militants and encourage the Taliban into peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan, the report added. ANI