ISLAMABAD, Jul 18 – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan Sunday for strategic talks aimed at bolstering bilateral ties and securing firmer support for the war in Afghanistan.
Clinton arrived by plane in Islamabad before noon, according to an AFP reporter travelling with her, ahead of expected talks with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari in the evening.
On Monday the Secretary of State is due to hold a day of meetings with high-level political, military and business figures to further a "strategic dialogue" aimed at chipping away at anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.
The visit comes ahead of Clinton\’s visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday for a major international donor conference as part of the largest gathering of foreign leaders in the war-ravaged nation since the 1970s.
But besides the war on Pakistan\’s border, talks in Islamabad are expected to focus on areas of socio-economic cooperation including in health, water, agriculture, information technology, energy and private sectors.
President Barack Obama\’s administration has promised to engage more deeply with Pakistan, which has long seen Washington as interested only in securing its military cooperation in the fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
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