Pakistani foreign minister to meet Clinton in London

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Amid signs of widening rift, Pakistan's foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said she is looking forward to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday here to discuss the 'strained ties'.

Answering a question on whether she would be meeting Clinton in London, Khar who was addressing a joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague after their meeting here last evening said: "Yes, I will be looking forward to meet Secretary Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the Somalia meeting."

"We hope that for the goals that we share, the shared goals and objectives in the region, that of peace and stability within the region, within Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States will be able to foster our ties," she said on Tuesday.

However, there are certain preconditions for that. And the preconditions are that of firstly what is considered to be in the mutual interest, and pursuing a track which is predictable, which is transparent and which is sustainable, Khar said.

"I think the sustainability of this relationship has been missing," she said. "What we are trying to do in government in Pakistan is to expand the scope of this relationship by giving it parliamentary ownership. So it must not be interpreted as an effort to contract this relationship, but to expand it."

Relations between Pakistan and the United States were severely damaged last year by a covert American raid that killed Osama bin Laden and air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, and the alliance remains tense.

"The Pakistani parliament currently is looking at terms of the engagement with the United States," she said, adding "red lines" created by Pakistan in its relationship with the United States and NATO had been "crossed repeatedly."

Asked whether UK would use its good offices to improve ties between Pakistan and the US, British Foreign Secretary said: "We have discussed relations between US and Pakistan. As a friend of Pakistan and ally of USA we want good relations between them."

Earlier in the day, William Hague and Khar held detailed talks on 'Enhanced Strategic Dialogue' between the two countries.

"In Britain we are committed to a relationship with Pakistan that is deep, long term and strategic," said Hague.

We value its many distinctive characteristics; such as the close personal ties between hundreds of thousands of our citizens, our crucial partnership against terrorism, our important trade ties and our unswerving commitment to Pakistan's development and to its democratic future, Hague said.

The British Foreign Secretary said "Today we have agreed to continue our collaboration against terrorism; helping disrupt immediate threats and to tackle the long term causes of terrorism. In Britain we understand the terrible losses terrorism has inflicted upon Pakistan and we feel them deeply too."

Hague said "we discussed Afghanistan and I welcomed the Minister's recent productive visit to Kabul."

"It is vital that further progress is made this year to consolidate the process of transition to Afghan security control, to agree a long term international commitment to Afghanistan beyond 2014, and to support Afghan-led efforts towards reconciliation and a lasting political settlement," said the foreign secretary.

A joint UK-Pakistan statement issued after their meeting said: "Foreign Minister of Pakistan Hina Rabbani Khar and British Foreign Secretary William Hague today took forward the enhanced strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the UK that underpins the unbreakable partnership between both countries."

The two leaders discussed progress under the five priority areas of the enhanced strategy dialogue.

"On trade, they welcomed the progress made towards achieving the target of increasing bilateral trade to pound 2.5 billion by 2015. Trade now stood at pound 1.9 billion.

UK Trade Minister Lord Green's recent visit had highlighted the opportunities in retail, energy and mining sectors.

Foreign Secretary Hague pledged to continue to advocate for Pakistan to gain enhanced trade access to the EU through GSP plus.

Foreign Minister Khar acknowledged the UK's support in achieving the WTO tariff waiver for Pakistan.

Earlier answering questions, Khar said Pakistan preferred to have improved trade instead of aid.