US Deputy State Secretary's visit focuses on Kabul, overshadows desire for broad-based ties with Pakistan

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's recent visit to Pakistan overshadowed the desire for broader ties with Islamabad as it was focused on Afghanistan's current situation, reported local media.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's recent visit to Pakistan overshadowed the desire for broad-based ties with Islamabad as it was focused on Afghanistan's current situation, reported local media. Wendy Sherman reached Islamabad on Thursday for the talks that focused on the current situation in Afghanistan and on US efforts to evolve a coordinated approach towards Afghanistan, reported Dawn.

During her two day visit to Islamabad, Sherman met various top members of the Pakistan government including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. US State Department on Friday issued a statement on Shermans's engagements. It indicated the centrality of the Afghan issue in US-Pakistan talks.

Speaking at a news briefing in Islamabad, Sherman said that while she also discussed bilateral relations with Pakistani officials, "this particular trip was to really consult deeply on how we see the changing circumstances, given the change that has taken place in Afghanistan," according to Dawn. It confirms what Sherman said at an event in Mumbai on Thursday, where she declared that Washington no longer sees itself building a "broad-based relationship" with Pakistan and that she was going to Islamabad with a "specific and narrow purpose" of talks on Afghanistan.

Despite differences on Afghanistan and other issues, the Biden administration will continue its engagement with Pakistan, diplomatic sources in Washington say. However, the sources say that in all these talks, the US will focus on four major points: Recognition of the Taliban government in Kabul, international sanctions on Afghanistan, access to the land-locked country and counter-terrorism cooperation, reported Dawn. (ANI)

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