US diplomat Alice Wells to arrive in Pakistan today

ISLAMABAD: US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G. Wells will arrive in Islamabad today on a four-day state visit, according to a media note issued by the US Department of State.
The American diplomat has been in the region since January 13 and has already been to Sri Lanka and India before traveling to Pakistan.
Wells’s visit to Islamabad comes immediately after Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi concluded his trip to the US where he interacted with senior United Nations and American officials in New York and Washington.
While Qureshi traveled to the US as part of his country’s Middle East diplomacy, he informed a news conference in Washington that the Pakistani administration was eager to receive American support on issues of strategic significance.
According to media reports, Pakistan asked the US to help get it off the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list. It also urged the American authorities to revisit their travel advisory to Pakistan since that could help the South Asian nation enhance tourism and earn significant revenue.
During her stay in Pakistan, Wells is expected to meet with senior civilian and military leadership of the country. Her meetings with Pakistani government functionaries are likely to focus on US-Pakistan bilateral relations, conflict in Afghanistan, situation in Indian-administered Kashmir, and the overall security situation of the region.