Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met with US Congressman Howard Berman, Chairman of the House of Foreign Affairs Committee and discussed wide-ranging relationship between the two countries.
Qureshi, who is in Washington for three-way consultations with US and Afghan diplomats on the future strategy towards the region, apprised the lawmakers of Pakistan's anti-terrorism efforts and its position on the way forward in the Pak-Afghan border region.
The foreign minister is due to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Special Representative Richard Holbrooke as part of the consultative process, which the Obama Administration believes will help in formulating a comprehensive strategy towards the border region facing Taliban insurgency.
The Pakistani side included ambassador in Washington Husain Haqqani, DG ISI, Ahmed Shujah Pasha, DG MO Javed Iqbal and senior diplomats. The chief Pakistani diplomat has been urging a review of the policy of drone attacks against suspected militant targets in the tribal areas and stresses a holistic approach to address the menace of violent extremism.
In interview and meetings with US officials this week, Qureshi has been defended the Swat peace arrangement, saying the pact has been reached with the people of the violence-hit scenic valley in response to demands for quick and inexpensive justice under its own peculiar judicial system. In interviews with CNN and PBS channels, he said the Swat arrangement is not a compromise with the Taliban militants but a local solution to a local problem.
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