WASHINGTON, Aug 15: US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is expected to visit Islamabad in the first week of September.

Pakistan’s Ambassador here Mahmud Ali Durrani, told reporters that the visit would focus on the strategic dialogue stalled after the initial meetings.

But Ambassador Durrani acknowledged that Mr Negroponte would also do a ‘friendly review’ of Pakistan’s domestic situation with his Pakistani counterparts.

Mr Negroponte’s visit follows that of Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Richard Boucher, who is in Islamabad.

Mr Boucher is a frequent visitor to Pakistan and diplomats here often joke that he spends more time in Islamabad than in the United States capital.

But unlike Mr Boucher, Mr Negroponte, who is the top bureaucrat at the State Department, does not directly deal with South Asia. Known as the Bush administration’s ‘trouble-shooter,’ Mr Negroponte is usually sent to trouble spots for talks on matters that Washington believes need additional care.

He visited Islamabad in June after US intelligence agencies reported that Al Qaeda had established strongholds in the tribal territory and there had been a sudden increase in cross-border attacks into Afghanistan by Taliban.

Ambassador Durrani said that Mr Negroponte would focus on the much awaited Pakistan-US strategic dialogue, which was scheduled for earlier this year but deferred.

The US had earlier planned to send Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns but has now upgraded its participation by sending Mr Negroponte.

The last meeting of the strategic dialogue took place in November 2006 and since then it has been postponed twice.