United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman arrived in Pakistan on Thursday.
Accompanied by a seven-member delegation, Sherman will hold formal meetings with the Pakistani leaders to take up Afghanistan issue during the two-day stay, according to a report.
The foreign ministry officials and American diplomats welcomed the visiting dignitaries.
The trip comes as India, one of the top allies of the Western-backed Ashraf Ghani government of Afghanistan that collapsed in the face of Taliban offences, as well as the US, ramps up propaganda campaign to scapegoat Pakistan for the collapse of the Ghani regime.
Pakistan was one of the backers of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime and has been accused by US officials of keeping the insurgents alive through covert support.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, in an opinion piece published last month in The Washington Post, called his country a “convenient scapegoat.”
“In Afghanistan, the lack of legitimacy for an outsider’s protracted war was compounded by a corrupt and inept Afghan government, seen as a puppet regime without credibility, especially by rural Afghans,” he wrote, elaborating on themes in his address to the UN General Assembly.
He urged the world to engage the Taliban government “to ensure peace and stability.”
Following the article, Sherman called on Pakistan to take action against all extremist groups.
“We seek a strong partnership with Pakistan on counter-terrorism and we expect sustained action against all militant and terrorist groups without distinction,” she told reporters.
“Both of our countries have suffered terribly from the scourge of terrorism and we look forward to cooperative efforts to eliminate all regional and global terrorist threats,” she said from Switzerland.
