WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in the US on Monday for talks with US officials and to attend the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which begin later this week.

On April 9, Mr Dar and his team will attend a meeting of the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue’s working group on economy and finance.

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have started to improve after two years of constant tensions which began with the US raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad.

US officials indicated recently that they wanted to stay engaged with Pakistan after 2014 as well, when they plan to withdraw most of their troops from Afghanistan. The team accompanying Mr Dar includes Secretary Economic Affairs Division Nargis Sethi, governor State Bank of Pakistan, secretary finance and the prime minister’s special assistant on economic affairs.