Deputy US foreign minister arrives in Islamabad

Alice Wells, the United States Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to follow up on Qureshi-Pompeo meetings in Washington.

The US envoy will hold meetings with senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesman for the Foreign Office, Dr Mohammad Faisal, said on Twitter.

“The aim would be to follow up on discussions between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and [US] Secretary of State Michael Pompeo with a view to further strengthen bilateral relations,” Faisal said.

امریکی نائب وزیر خارجہ ایلس ویلز ایک روزہ دورے پر پاکستان پہنچ گئیں۔
ایلس ویلز پاکستانی قیادت سے ملا قاتیں کریں گی۔۔ پاک امریکہ تعلقات ، خطے کے صورتحال ا ور افغان مفا ہمتی عمل پر گفتگو ہو گی. pic.twitter.com/K6SlTsRsHl

— Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) November 6, 2018

Ambassador Wells will also call on Finance Minister Asad Umar, he added.

Qureshi visited the US for 10 days in September-October, where he held meetings with numerous important leaders and think tanks in the US, as well as the Pakistani diaspora.

Of bilateral relations with the US and matters of mutual interest, Qureshi had said they had made “significant progress”. US officials had made critical comments about Pakistan in the past, he had said, adding that over the past year, Islamabad was “bombarded with criticism”.

But, there had been a “visible change in how the US conducted talks this time”, he had commented. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was “ready to listen” to what Pakistan had to stay, especially after his visit to Islamabad last month.

Her visit comes ahead of a meeting of regional countries on Afghan peace, involving Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbe­kistan and Turkmenistan, which is being hosted by Moscow on Friday. A Taliban delegation of will also join the talks.