Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday during which the two leaders would discuss a wide range of bilateral and regional issues, including counterterrorism.
Khar, who arrived in the US capital yesterday on a four-day official visit, was received at the airport by Pak Ambassador to US Sherry Rehman.
She would hold a series of meetings with top officials of the Obama Administration, lawmakers and address think tanks.
"Foreign Minister Khar is coming to see the secretary on Friday," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.
"I'm expecting that the full range of issues we have with Pakistan -- bilateral, regional, et certera -- will be covered, including our continuing effort to get our counterterrorism activities back up and running fully," she said.
From Washington, Khar would travel to New York to join President Asif Ali Zardari to attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly.
"Secretary [Clinton] and Foreign Minister Khar have had a very strong relationship ever since Foreign Minister Khar took office. I think this is going to be at least their fourth meeting, if not more. Have met in Pakistan, they met in Tokyo, I think we've met one other time before, certainly at the UNGA last year. So they have a working relationship together," Nuland said.
"They have both rolled up their sleeves to try to stabilize and strengthen the relationship, and I think this is a good opportunity, obviously, for them to take stock of where we are and continue to try to move forward," the Clinton spokesperson said.
Responding to a question on Haqqani network, Nuland said the US has been focused on its concerns about this terrorist network.
"We've been continuing to encourage further squeezing by the government of Pakistan on the Haqqani network, and, you know, we have now made a full designation, as the secretary announced a week ago," she said.
