ISLAMABAD: Senior US diplomat Alice Wells will visit Islamabad on Tuesday to follow up on recent discussions between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

“US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Ambassador Alice Wells will visit Pakistan on Nov 6. She will hold meetings with senior officials at the ministry of foreign affairs. The aim would be to follow up on discussions between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo with a view to further strengthening bilateral relations,” said FO spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal.

Ambassador Wells will also call on Finance Minister Asad Umar.

Mr Pompeo and Mr Qureshi have met twice over the past couple of months. Her visit also comes ahead of a meeting of the regional countries on Afghan peace, involving Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbe­kistan and Turkmenistan, which is being hosted by Moscow on Friday. A delegation of Taliban would also join the talks.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2018