WASHINGTON, March 6: The US effort to introduce international non-proliferation standards in Pakistan will be top on his agenda when Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives in Islamabad on March 17 on a two-day official visit , the State Department said.

In remarks released on Saturday, the department's spokesman Adam Ereli said Mr Powell would review the nuclear issue with Pakistani leaders.

"And (Mr Powell) will look as how we can engage with Pakistan on international non-proliferation standards," he added.

In the briefing, held after the department had announced Mr Powell's schedule to visit South Asia, the spokesman defended Pakistan as a country which had taken 'strong steps to combat this problem' and said Mr Powell "will be reviewing (with Pakistani leaders) what has (already) been accomplished."

Referring to Dr A.Q. Khan's network of nuclear proliferators, the spokesman pointed out that most Americans did not see it as an internal issue of Pakistan but as a problem "that affects not only Pakistan but really all of us who seek to prevent weapons of mass destruction getting into the hands of wrong customers."

Asked if President Pervez Musharraf should have taken a punitive action against Dr Khan instead of granting him a pardon, Mr Ereli said: "It's our understanding that it's a conditional pardon, that investigation is continuing, and that strong measures have been put in place to prevent it from reoccurring."

Mr Powell's talks in India, the said, would focus on working together to strengthen not only the global economy but to expand bilateral trade between the two countries. "And obviously the strategic partnership (between India and the US) has an important role in that."

Mr Ereli said the United States recognized "the important forward movement" both India and Pakistan had recently made in addressing issues between them.

This progress, he said, "will definitely figure on the agenda of our discussions in both India and Pakistan. But it will by no means overshadow the other very, very important bilateral issues that we have with each one separately."