The first round of bilateral talks of the strategic dialogue initiative, was held on Wednesday. Pakistan Foreign Office delegation led by Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan, which arrived last evening, held bilateral talks with the senior US officials.
The delegation met acting secretary of state Robert Zoellick, and was to meet Steve Hadley, National Security Advisor to President Bush and Assistant to the US President and Deputy National Security Advisor. Dr Jack D. Crouch. Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan also visited the Brookings Institution, where he met and briefed scholars and academicians of the noted think tank on Pakistan's foreign policy.
On the occasion, bilateral, regional and international matters are understood to have come up under discussion. The second round of the formal strategic dialogue will be held on Thursday at the State Department. Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan and US Under-secretary Nicholas Burns, leading their respective sides, comprising six officials each, officials said.
Later on Thursday, a Press briefing is scheduled to be held. The decision to launch strategic dialogue under the Pakistan-US strategic partnership initiative was taken during the Musharraf-Bush summit talks held in Islamabad on March 4. The dialogue provides for regular consultations on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Ambassador Jehangir Karamat is part of the Pakistan delegation in the strategic dialogue, while the Foreign Office delegation includes spokesperson, Tasnim Aslam.
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