Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrives at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 23, 2013, for a meeting with US President Barack Obama. PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON DC: US President Barack Obama welcomed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the White House on Wednesday afternoon as the two leaders began their meeting aimed at strengthening US-Pakistan relationship and cooperation in a number of fields including the prickly topics of drone strikes and Dr Shakil Afridi.
“The meeting will highlight the importance and resilience of the US-Pakistan relationship and provide an opportunity for us to strengthen cooperation on issues of mutual concern, such as energy, trade and economic development, regional stability, and countering violent extremism,” an earlier White House statement said.
Nawaz, in his first-ever meeting with Obama, is expected to raise the issue of drone strikes. Bilateral trade and economic cooperation is also on the agenda. Afghanistan and the regional security situation would also come under discussion.
On the other hand, Obama is likely to seek Pakistan’s support for peace and stability in Afghanistan and ensuring a smooth drawdown of American troops by the end of 2014 along with release of Dr Shakil Afridi may be discussed.
Both sides have stressed a positive tone ahead of the meeting between the top political leaders. Islamabad and Washington have been working to ease 2011 tensions when a spate of incidents strained the relationship.
Senior Obama Administration officials have assured the PM that the US would assist Pakistan in speeding up its economic development and overcoming energy shortages.
Earlier, the Obama administration announced the resumption of about $1.6 billion economic and security assistance for Pakistan, which could not be delivered in the recent years.
Nawaz has had a series of high level meetings with the top officials of the Obama administration, including Vice-President Joe Biden, secretaries of State, Defence, Commerce, Energy and Treasury as well as the US trade representatives.
He has also met lawmakers and interacted with the Washington’s think tank community and the Pakistani American community.
