Pakistan: Khar-Clinton meeting in London 'positive'

Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday described the meeting between Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in London as "positive and constructive".

Thursday's meeting came with relations between the two allies strained on a variety of issues including last year's killing of Al Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden and Nato border strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of an international conference on Somalia convened by British Prime Minister David Cameron, Xinhua reported.

Addressing a weekly press briefing yesterday, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said: "You will agree with me that Pakistan-US relations are important and we are trying to make these relations transparent and predictable. We are waiting for the completion of our parliamentary process. We will proceed further in the light of parliamentary guidelines."

Asked if the issue of US drone strikes was raised, Basit said Pakistan believed they were unlawful and unacceptable and "these strikes hamper counter-terrorism efforts and realisation of shared objectives".