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EU's Ashton To Visit Pakistan For 'Strategic Dialogue'

June 04, 2012

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is headed to Pakistan to open a wide-ranging "strategic dialogue" covering security, development, and trade issues, officials say.

A European Commission statement says Ashton and Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will formally launch the talks on June 5 in an effort to give new impetus to relations between Islamabad and the 27-member EU.

Officials say the dialogue aims to explore ways to implement a five-year plan agreed in January that would culminate in a Free Trade Agreement between the sides and include counterterrorism measures and heightened development aid.

Ashton's visit comes with relations between Pakistan and the West -- in particular, the EU's ally the United States -- strained over issues including cooperation in Afghanistan and the battle against militants along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Based on AFP and RFE/RL reporting

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/eu-ashton-to-visit-pakistan-for-strategic-dialogue/24603399.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.