RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: The United States and Pakistan military leadership have discussed overall regional security situation with particular reference to situation in Afghanistan, ahead of the two-day Heart of Asia Conference.
The discussion came when the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard G. Olson held a meeting with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif on Monday at the army’s general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
In a short press release issued on Monday, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that this was Ambassador Olson’s first visit to the army’s general quarters after assumption of office of the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in November 2015.
The two-day ministerial meeting of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process will be held in Islamabad from November 8 to 9 at which issues of regional and national security will be discussed.
It is expected that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will inaugurate the event which is aimed at cementing regional ties, according to the Foreign Office.
The Conference is also aimed at expanding cooperation among Afghanistan and regional partners in countering terrorism and elimination of poverty and extremism.
The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the foreign ministers of India, China, Tajikistan, Iran and Afghanistan will attend the Conference among other dignitaries.
