Top US official visiting India, Pakistan

Washington, Dec 5: US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to India and Pakistan December 7-10 to discuss key political, economic, and security issues with government officials and non-governmental experts.

Blinken, who will be in New Delhi December 7-8, will meet with senior Indian officials to discuss a range of bilateral and global economic and security issues, including ongoing US-India cooperation to advance mutual prosperity and regional stability, state department announced.

He will also visit a local business incubator as part of his ongoing outreach to build new bridges between policymakers and innovators, it said.

Blinken will travel to Islamabad December 8-10 to represent the US at the Heart of Asia ministerial.

There he will discuss efforts to deepen regional cooperation on the US goal of a fully peaceful and stable Afghanistan, as well as efforts to increase security and prosperity in the region as a whole, the announcement said.

While in Islamabad, Blinken will also meet with senior Pakistani officials to follow up on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's October visit to Washington and discuss ways to enhance US-Pakistan "multidimensional relationship."

IANS