US NSA Susan Rice's trip to Pakistan unrelated to Indo-Pak tension: White House

Washington, Aug 30: US National Security Advisor Susan Rice's visit to Islamabad was planned in advance and she is not making an "emergency visit" due to the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan, the White House asserted today, refuting media reports in this regard.

"Contrary to Pakistani media reporting, Ambassador Rice is not making an emergency visit to Pakistan in response to rising tensions between India and Pakistan," an administration official told PTI when asked about NSA’s trip to Islamabad to hold talks with top Pakistani leadership.

"Ambassador Rice's visit to Pakistan has been planned for weeks as part of her trip to Asia and is unrelated to the recent rise in tensions," the official said when asked about media reports that the National Security Advisor is having an emergency visit to Islamabad as part of the American effort to reduce the ongoing tension between the two neighbors.

"While in Pakistan, Ambassador Rice will meet with senior official to advance our mutual interests and address areas of concern, particularly terrorist and militant attacks emanating from Pakistani soil," the official said.

Rice is travelling to Islamabad from Beijing, where she held meetings with her Chinese counterparts on the September’s State Visit of President Xi Jinping.

On Sunday, the US National Security Advisor is scheduled to hold talks with the top Pakistani leadership including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, her counterpart Sartaj Aziz and Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif.

PTI