Kerry to visit Pakistan, India this month

Published June 13, 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry.—File Photo
US Secretary of State John Kerry.—File Photo

ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Pakistan and India this month for the first time since taking office, officials in Delhi and Islamabad said on Thursday.

Kerry's scheduled visit to Pakistan is the most senior foreign trip to be announced since Nawaz Sharif was sworn in as Pakistani prime minister after May elections.

“US Secretary of State Mr John Kerry will be visiting Pakistan in the last week of June,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry told a weekly press briefing in Islamabad.

He said the specific dates of Kerry's visit would be announced once they had been finalised.

US officials previously said Kerry would visit once the new government was in place.

A senior Indian government official said Kerry would be in New Delhi on June 23 and 24, adding that Afghanistan would be one of the main topics up for discussion.

“They (the Americans) have repeatedly said that they welcome India's role in Afghanistan... They would like to see it go forward,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

“We would like to get from the secretary a better idea of what the American plans are,” the official added.

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