WASHINGTON, Oct 1: Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan assured the United States on Monday that the presidential and national elections in Pakistan would be held as scheduled.

Mr Khan conveyed this assurance at a meeting he had with US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte at the State Department, during which the two officials also reviewed the current political situation in Pakistan.

“We assured them that the political process will proceed and the elections will be held as scheduled,” he told a group of Pakistani journalists after the meeting. Asked why was he so certain that the elections would be held as per schedule, Secretary Khan said the Constitution required the presidential elections to be held by Oct 15.

“This is what I understand and this is what I said.” He said he told Mr Negroponte that the Supreme Court had taken “a very important decision” about the presidential election.

Mr Khan said the situation in Waziristan and along the Pak-Afghan border was discussed and the two sides also reviewed the proposal for establishing reconstruction opportunities zones in the tribal areas, which would allow manufacturers to export their goods to the United States without duties.

The US administration plans to introduce a peace of legislation in Congress shortly for creating the ROZs.

On Sunday, USAID and the Pakistan government signed an agreement, under which the United States would provide $750 million over a period of five years to help Pakistan carry out its sustainable economic development plan for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Monday’s talks followed the second round of the US-Pakistan strategic partnership dialogue held in Islamabad last month. “We started from where we had left in Islamabad,” Mr Khan said. “There are some ideas which we have put together, they have to agree, so once we have exchange of letters on that, we will pursue those ideas between now and the next session,” he said.