Pakistan to restore strategic dialogue with US

Pakistan and the United States will try to agree on restoring strategic dialogue during the forthcoming visit of Secretary of State John Kerry to Islamabad, said its Foreign Office spokesman, Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, on Monday. According to an official press release, strategic dialogue between the two countries was suspended after the US attack on a checkpoint in November 2011, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, according to the spokesman. He said that five working groups in the country were engaged in talks on various aspects of Pakistan-US relations under strategic dialogue. These groups will resume talks if agreed during John Kerry's visit to Pakistan, said Chaudhry. The spokesman further said that the Afghan reconciliation process would be one of the key subjects of John Kerry's visit adding that Pakistan supports all initiatives designed to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan.