The MuslimTimes Editor for Pakistan
Credit: Dawn.com
In this handout photograph released by Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) on December 9, 2013 Pakistan’s army chief General Raheel Sharif (R) meets with US defence secretary Chuck Hagel at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. — Photo by AFP
In response, the officials said, Hagel received assurances from the Pakistanis that they would take ”immediate action” to resolve the shipment problem. The officials did not provide details on how that might be done.
Hagel departed from Pakistan after a brief visit during which he held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the country’s new army chief General Raheel Sharif on Monday.
In the first visit by a US defence secretary in nearly four years, Hagel flew from Kabul to Islamabad as Washington seeks to defuse tensions over controversial US drone strikes and Islamabad’s role in Afghanistan.
Ties between Washington and Islamabad have been seriously strained over US drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal belt as well as Afghan Taliban sanctuaries inside Pakistan’s borders.
After greeting Prime Minister Sharif at the start of their talks, Hagel said Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan had a “lot of common and mutual interests” and that he looked forward to discussing regional issues.
The meeting between the US Defence Secretary and Pakistani prime minister was also attended by Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins.