WASHINGTON- A senior Pakistani official voiced the hope that next month’s meeting between Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan would set the stage for a constructive dialogue between the two countries leading to resolution of all outstanding issues.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Syed Tariq Fatemi, stressed that Pakistan is willing to play a constructive role for maintaining peace and tranquillity in the region and beyond.
He was addressing a roundtable discussion held at the John Hopkins University on “US-Pakistan Relations: The Way Forward.” The roundtable was moderated by Dr Vali Nasr, Dean of the
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and attended by leading scholars, academician and selected members of Washington’s think tank community. In his opening remarks, Fatemi highlighted the importance Pakistan attaches to stronger Pakistan-US cooperation. He underscored that Pakistan-US partnership is vital to regional and international security. He noted that substantial progress has been made in the bilateral relationship, especially since the visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Washington last year.  He stated that Pakistan and the US are closely cooperating in bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan.
The United States has appreciated Pakistan’s positive role and contribution to enabling Afghanistan to hold the recent presidential election in a peaceful manner. During the interactive session, the Special Assistant responded to various questions related to different aspects of Pakistan’s relations with the US, China, India and other countries in the region.