Nawaz Sharif arrives in US, Kashmir in agenda for talks with Obama

Washington: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived here on a four-day official visit to the US in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Scheduled to meet President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday, Sharif was received at the Andrews Airforce Base by the Assistant Secretary of State Peter Selfridge.

Sharif was accompanied by his wife Kulsoom Nawaz, daughter Maryam Nawaz, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and his special assistant on foreign affairs, Tariq Fatemi.

 In addition to his meeting with Obama, Sharif is scheduled to meet Secretary of State John Kerry, and other senior officials of the administration. The Pakistani PM is under pressure to take up the Kashmir issue with the American leaders.

He would also be addressing a meeting of US-Pakistan Business Council and interact with the think-tank community at the US Institute of Peace.

Ahead of Nawaz Sharif's US visit, Pakistan had on Monday asked the US to play a role in resolving the core issue of Kashmir with India and ensure strategic stability in South Asia.

"It is the responsibility of the US and the international community to help resolve the problem of Kashmir, which was the main issue with India," Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry had said on Monday.

"During the Prime Minister's visit, we will talk about the tension with India on the Line of Control," he said while talking to media.

"Pakistan wants to have good and peaceful ties with its neighbours, including India, and for this purpose Sharif also went to New Delhi last year to attend the oath taking ceremony of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi but no positive response was received from India," he was quoted as saying by the Radio Pakistan.

He said despite peace overtures, Pakistan did not get any positive response from India.