United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held separate meetings with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani here and discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral relations, local media reported Monday.
Hillary Clinton, during her meetings with Pakistani leadership on Sunday, reiterated the "do more" demand and asked the latter to work with Afghanistan in the war against al-Qaida and Taliban militants, Xinhua reported.
They also discussed regional peace, security situation, energy needs, post conflict rehabilitation and the issues relating to strategic dialogue, according to official sources.
Hillary Clinton, leading a high level U.S. delegation, assured Pakistani leadership of additional U.S. support in addressing issues in energy water and agriculture on priority basis in the ongoing strategic dialogue held on Monday.
The U.S. Secretary of State appreciated the efforts being made by Pakistan for economic stability and poverty alleviation.
She expressed a determination to strengthen the ties between the two countries in all areas particularly in areas of energy, water agriculture and trade development.
U.S. drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal regions, rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons, strengthening of the law enforcing agencies, the coalition support funds arrears and Pakistan's energy needs were discussed in the meeting, official sources said.
About the drone attacks on Pakistani territory, Zardari said that it undermined the national consensus against the war on militancy and reiterated Pakistan's call for transfer of done technology to it for use by its own security forces against the militants for wider public acceptability.
Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad on Sunday on a two-day visit to consult with Pakistani leaders on bilateral and regional issues, according to local media reports.
She will participate with her delegation in a meeting of the bilateral Ministerial-level Strategic Dialogue, which she will chair with her Pakistani counterpart, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said the U.S. embassy spokesman.
During the visit, she will also directly engage Pakistani citizens and take their questions in a Town Hall meeting that will be covered by the press, said the embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire, adding that she will have interaction with TV anchors to respond to questions.
The Ministerial-level bilateral Strategic Dialogue that was launched in Washington in March 2010 has thirteen separate working groups that have met in Islamabad over the past three months.