Nov 15 , 2015
News
COAS leaves for five-day US visit today
INP
RAWALPINDI: Army Chief General Raheel Sharif will leave for US today (Sunday), a trip analysts said will underscore security issues facing Islamabad and Washington in the region. The five-day visit comes weeks after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met with US President Barack Obama at the Oval Office to discuss many of the same issues said to be on Army Chief’s agenda, including Afghan peace talks and Pakistan’s nuclear programme. Analysts said Raheel Sharif’s influence over both issues makes him, rather than the civilian leadership, the dominant broker for Washington’s regional agenda. Stability in Pakistan’s neighbour Afghanistan has spiralled after a Taliban surge in recent months, and Obama announced in October that Washington will keep thousands of soldiers in the country past 2016. The Army chief also hold detailed discussions with the US defence officials about the militants who have taken refuge in Afghanistan and launch attacks on Pakistan from across the border. He will also raise the issue of nexus of Indian intelligence agency RAW and Afghanistan’s NDS against Pakistan.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk