US and Pakistani defence officials concluded a defence dialogue Friday in Washington, focusing on the security situation during and after the US troops drawdown in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced. According to a Pentagon statement, officials held the 22nd meeting of the US-Pakistan Defence Consultative Group, a working group under the strategic dialogue framework from Thursday and Friday.
The two sides were led by US. Under Secretary of Defence for Policy James Miller and Asif Yasin Malik, Pakistan's secretary of defence. The two sides reviewed the challenges to regional security, emphasising the importance of regional peace and stability, especially in the wake of the US drawdown in Afghanistan, underscoring the critical significance of cross-border co-operation between Pakistan and Afghanistan to achieve shared objectives.
During the discussion, the Pakistan delegation provided an update on its military campaign along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and the US delegation briefed on International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) activities in Afghanistan, including the 2013 transition of lead for security to the Afghan National Security Forces, the Pentagon said.
The Defence Consultative Group is the primary forum for exchanging views and co-ordinating defence policy between the two countries, with the goal of strengthening defence co-operation to support each country's security interests, according to the Pentagon. The DCG last met in December 2012 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. US forces are slated to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
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