ISLAMABAD, 08 October 2021, (TON): US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, effectively the No 2 at the State Department, arrived in Pakistan on a crucial visit focusing on the current Afghan situation and the future of bilateral ties between Islamabad and Washington.

This is the first visit by a senior American diplomat under the Biden administration though the CIA chief earlier undertook back-to-back trips, those were primarily focused on certain developments inside Afghanistan.

But the visit by Sherman is more significant as this will cover the whole gamut of relationship between Pakistan and the US, according to official sources.

The senior State Department official flew from New Delhi where she had wide-ranging engagements.

In Islamabad, she would meet all the relevant people both in the civil and military setup. Officials familiar with the agenda of her visit say Afghanistan would certainly figure prominently during the discussions.

But Pakistan’s emphasis would be on broad-based ties covering bilateral issues including the trade and commercial ties between the two countries.

Pakistan has of late been advocating that ties with the US must not be transactional and security and Afghan driven. For this purpose, the Biden administration was conveyed that the US must not see Pakistan through the Indian or Chinese lens.

A senior Pakistani official said “we want to develop bilateral cooperation purely based on the interests of both the countries.”