ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson called on President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday and discussed issues relating to bilateral ties.

Officially, no details of the meeting were released to the media as presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar issued only a brief statement, saying: “Pak-US bilateral relations were discussed during the meeting.”

However, inside sources said that the US-led Nato forces’ operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline were among the issues that came under discussion during the meeting.

The president told the ambassador that Pakistan greatly valued its relations with the US.

Mr Olson said bilateral cooperation with Pakistan in various fields would continue. He briefed the president on the strategic dialogue scheduled to take place between the two countries in future.

CONDOLENCE LETTERS: Meanwhile, President Zardari wrote two letters, one to Carol Thatcher, daughter of the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and the other to UK Prime Minister David Cameron, offering condolences on the death of Baroness Thatcher.

He said that in the death of Baroness Thatcher, the UK had lost a great leader and Pakistan a great friend.

“Baroness Thatcher was among the most influential politicians of her times,” he said in the letter to her daughter.

In the letter to Prime Minister Cameron, the president said: “On behalf of the government and people of Pakistan, I would like to express our deepest condolences to the government and people of Great Britain and to her family.”