WASHINGTON, Jan 21: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz arrives in Washington on Sunday for a series of meetings with the Bush administration after a turbulent week at home in which a US missile killed 18 in an attempt to take out Al Qaeda‘s No. 2 leader.

Mr Aziz is expected to meet President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and also deliver an address on the future of US-Pakistan relations at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington.

Although relations between the two governments have been good since Pakistan joined the US-led war on terrorism, Washington’s hunt for Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in the tribal areas has created political troubles for Islamabad.

Mr Aziz’s meeting with President Bush on Tuesday would give the two leaders a chance to talk about what the United States can do to help Pakistan become a better democracy, said Mr Dillon.

The visit will be a step forward in the growing and maturing relationship between the United States and Pakistan, he said.

“The United States must lay out what is best for us in terms of aid in war on terrorism, but must also show an interest in what is best for Pakistan, too.”