PESHAWAR: Director of the US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement-Pakistan (INL-P) Katie Stana visited Peshawar on Wednesday.

Accompanied by Consul General Raymond McGrath, Stana met with home secretary Shakeel Qadir Khan and IGP Salahuddin Khan Mehsud to discuss INL’s longstanding partnership with KP on the rule of law, counternarcotics, corrections, and police programmes.

A statement issued here said Katie Stana welcomed the provincial home department’s efforts to establish a strategic roadmap on rule of law in KP and highlighted the advantage of looking at the “broader picture rather than one-off interventions.” The home secretary and the US official also discussed police and prison training programmes and facilities, noting that INL-funded model police stations would help improve police-community relations and make police stations more accessible to the general public.

During her meeting with IGP Mehsud, Ms Stana highlighted the INL’s cooperation with KP police and welcomed the recent passage of the KP Police Act, 2017 to further professionalise the police. She noted that in partnership with INL, the KP police had trained more than 3,400 police personnel, including 69 female police commandos, at the INL-funded Joint Police Training Centre.

Mr Mehsud and Ms Stana also discussed INL’s $4 million contribution of 500 bulletproof vests and helmets, 10 bomb suits, and 24 APCs for the police.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2017