Pakistan, US to hold defence talks

Islamabad, Feb 24:

and the

will hold

talks in Washington Monday against the backdrop of action taken to destroy militant hideouts in Pakistan.

Defence Secretary Asif Yasin Malik will lead the Pakistani delegation at the talks which are parts of regular consultations between the defence establishments of the two countries, Dawn reported.

Although, both countries are trying to eradicate terrorism from the Pakistan-Afghanistan region, they had differences over how to combat the militants.

The US has long been pushing Pakistan to launch a military operation in the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), particularly in North Waziristan.

Pakistan, however, resisted the pressure and hoped to end militancy through dialogue with the Taliban. But terrorist attacks killed many people during the peace process, which forced the government to order military action against the Taliban.

The bombing of militant targets in tribal areas has been welcomed by Washington and State Department officials have offered to help "build Pakistan's capacity to fight militancy".

IANS