US-Pak set to resume military contact

The United States and Pakistan were on Wednesday set to resume high-level military contacts for the first time since a cross-border Nato air strike in the country’s tribal belt killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year.

The United States and Pakistan were on Wednesday set to resume high-level military contacts for the first time since a cross-border Nato air strike in the country’s tribal belt killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year.

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Gen James Mattis, head of the United States Army’s Central Command, and Gen John Allen, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, met Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Wednesday, a military spokesman said.

“It is the first high-level meeting after (the Nato air strike) and will focus on the inquiry into the incident and improvements in border coordination procedures,” the spokesman said without giving details.

The meeting of the military officials is being held a day after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani held talks with US President Barack Obama on the margins of a nuclear security summit in Seoul.

During the talks held in Seoul between the heads of governments of both states, Obama called for a balanced approach to bilateral ties that would respect Pakistan’s sovereignty while addressing the national security concerns of the US.

Gilani ordered a parliamentary review of Pakistan’s ties with the US and Nato after November’s air strike, which the American military has said was unintentional.