U.S. special envoy to visit Pakistan very soon

Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard C. Holbrooke will pay 4-day visit to Pakistan from July 16, sources from the United States embassy in Pakistan said Thursday.

Holbrooke will participate in a Strategic Dialogue session to reinforce the close partnership between the U.S. and Pakistan, they said.

Official sources said that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Islamabad to lead experts in the Strategic Dialogue. It will be the second ministerial-level discussions in less than five months.

Clinton and Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi introduced the first ministerial-level discussions of the Strategic Dialogue in Washington in March.

Both sides have formed numerous strategic dialogue groups which have met recently to discuss such topics as water management, health, agriculture, education, economics and finance, access to markets, energy, science and technology, communications, women's issues, law enforcement and defense.

Holbrooke will also attend a meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan in Islamabad, a group aimed to extend support to Pakistan in its efforts to consolidate democracy in Pakistan and support social and economic development in the country.

The group was launched in New York in September, 2008 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.

The sources said that the U.S. special envoy will also travel to Afghanistan on July 20, to attend the Kabul Conference, co- chaired by the government of Afghanistan and the United Nations. Hillary Clinton will lead the U.S. delegation to attend the conference.

Source: Xinhua