ISLAMABAD, June 13: The visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, on Wednesday reiterated his government’s commitment to a strong, broad-based relationship with Pakistan.

Mr Boucher held out the assurance when he separately called on foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri and foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan at the Foreign Office here. Their discussions focused on Pakistan-US relations and Afghanistan, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Assistant Secretary Boucher is on his third visit to Pakistan this year for the periodic consultations that both sides hold.

During the 45-minute meeting Mr Kasuri underscored the importance of a broad-based, long-term, strategic relationship between Pakistan and the US and the deepening of cooperation in the agreed areas of economy, energy, education, and science and technology. Various aspects of bilateral relations were reviewed, including the FATA

Development Plan and capacity-building for the Frontier Corps.

According to sources privy to the meeting, the domestic situation also figured in the discussions as did the upcoming general elections in Pakistan. Without going into the specifics, the sources said the US assistant secretary had some questions about the latest developments in the country and preparations for the elections.

On the bilateral front Mr Boucher apprised Mr Kasuri of the efforts undertaken by the Bush administration to support the various initiatives with Pakistan in the US Congress, the statement said. He observed that the visits of senior Bush administration officials and several Congressional delegations to Pakistan in the recent past had contributed to deeper understanding on issues of mutual interest and moving the bilateral agenda forward.

While reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to fight extremism and terrorism, Mr Kasuri highlighted Pakistan’s efforts to strengthen security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

On the Afghanistan question he also apprised Mr Boucher of the trilateral discussions in Turkey and the participation of the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the G8 meeting in Potsdam, Germany.

The US official was also informed about the status of discussions on the jirga process as well as Pakistan-Afghanistan political and economic contacts on the bilateral plane.

Mr Boucher expressed US support for all efforts contributing to the process of peace and stabilisation in Afghanistan.

Mr Boucher told Foreign Minister Kasuri that the US side was looking forward to his visit to Washington next week.

In the afternoon, Assistant Secretary Boucher attended a working luncheon hosted by Additional Secretary (Americas), Shahid Kamal.