According to details, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson and Senior Director for South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council Peter Lavoy will meet Pakistan’s political and military leaderships.
The US team will hold important meetings with officials including Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif and National Security Adviser (NSA) to the Prime Minister Lieutenant General (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua.
Congressional restriction on financing of F-16 fighters’ sale from Foreign Military Financing program has led to strain in ties with Pakistan.
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US State Department official David Ranz during a Capitol Hill meeting last week had hinted that the F-16 deal was no longer possible.
He said the deal expired on May 24 as Congress did not approve the Obama administration’s plea to use US funds for subsidising the deal, adding it made ‘a significant portion’ of the military help to Pakistan ‘conditional to taking action against the Haqqani network’.
Pakistan has been getting a billion dollars from the US Coalition Support Fund as reimbursement for its efforts to combat terrorism.
