Tour to focus on stalled Afghan peace process, other security issues.
Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif is set to visit the United States next week to hold talks with top officials on security issues including the stalled Afghan peace process, the military said on Sunday.
The Nov. 15-20 visit comes weeks after a trip by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and is viewed by analysts as a U.S. attempt to deal directly with the country’s military, which sets its defense policy.
“COAS [Chief of Army Staff] will visit U.S.A. from Nov. 15-20. Will hold meetings with military and political leadership on wide ranging security issues,” military spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa announced on Twitter.
A senior Pakistani security official told AFP that the two sides would also discuss reconciliation in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s ongoing military operations against Taliban militants in its tribal areas.
The U.S. sees Pakistan as one of the few states with influence over the extremists, and the new Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour is believed to have close ties to Islamabad. But some in Washington believe Pakistan has not done enough to bring its influence to bear and to persuade the group to renounce violence.
Islamabad organized the first set of direct peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government in July. But another round scheduled for later that month stalled following the announcement of the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
At home, Gen. Raheel Sharif is gaining a cult following because of his willingness to carry out military operations to clear militants from the country’s tribal areas, and he is also credited with bringing down levels of violence in Karachi, the country’s biggest city.
Gen. Sharif visited the U.S. last year, where he met with Secretary of State John Kerry and was awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit. The government of Nawaz Sharif, who is not related to the general, is widely seen as having ceded more power to the military since Sharif was re-elected in 2013.
2 comments
US should not call Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Shareef if anything happens in India and Afghanistan…..US should call Afghan president if anything happens in Pakistan because now the terrorists are in afghanistan…..secondly, USA should not drag India in between whenever Pakistan wants to purchase defence equipment.
He .. he .. he ……… Raheel is visiting US on his own as there was no official invitation either from his American counterpart or the Pentagon? This is according to US defence officials? The fact is that Pentagon has received requests for a meeting from Pakistani Embassy to make it an official trip at the cost of poor Pakistani citizenry … ??
Please check.