Islamabad, Oct 02: The Indo-Pak peace process will figure in the wide-ranging talks US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca hold with Pakistani leadership during their three-day visit to Pakistan beginning today. Armitage and Rocca will meet President Pervez Musharraf and other top leaders.
The ongoing war on terrorism, deteriorating Pak-Afghan relations over the issue of resurgence of Taliban, the progress on US request to send troops to Iraq would also come up for discussion.
Armitage and Rocca's visit to Islamabad may focus on relations between India and Pakistan. After the highs of stabling road links and exchange of parliamentary delegations, which attracted large public participation on both sides, the ties showed signs of deterioration specially after strong speeches delivered by Musharraf and Vajpayee at last week's UN General Assembly.
The US officials arrive virtually days after Musharraf's meeting with US President George W Bush and US Secretary Colin Powell last week on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York.
Armitage and Rocca would hold talks with Musharraf to review actions taken on decisions arrived at during Pakistan President's meetings with Bush and Powell, diplomatic sources said here.
Bureau Report