Third Round of the US-Pakistan Track-II Bilateral Dialogue held in Washington
The third round of the US-Pakistan Track-II Bilateral Dialogue was held at the Wilson Centre, Washington, DC on August 10-11 under the umbrella theme of “Convergence amid divergence: Identifying pathways to cooperation in a challenging environment”.
The process is an initiative of the Regional Peace Institute (RPI), Pakistan which is implemented in partnership with the Wilson Centre.
The first two rounds were held in Washington on January 3-4 and Islamabad on April 5-6.
The process is supported and funded by the US Embassy in Islamabad.
In addition to the Inaugural Session which was attended by Lisa Curtis as Chief Guest, four Working Sessions were held discussing the following themes:
Working Session I
Combating radicalisation, extremism and terrorism – Opportunities and limits of US-Pakistan cooperation.”
Working Session II
““The India factor – What role, if any, should the US play in India-Pakistan relationship?”
Working Session III
“The Afghan reconciliation – A path to peace, or a bridge to nowhere?”
Working Session IV
“CPEC and China’s growing role in South-Asia – What does it mean for US-Pakistan relations?”
Pakistani deletion comprised Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, Lt. Gen. (R) Ishfaq Nadeen Ahmad, Dr. Vaqar Ahmad and Raoof Hasan.
The US delegation comprised Ambassador Richard Boucher, Ambassador Robin Raphel, Dr. Tricia Bacon, David Smith and Michael Kugelman.
Considerable ground was covered in moving from the general perceptions to specifying the issues in each of the sectors discussed and finding the right mix of solutions. This signified the crossing of a major threshold in successfully devising the contours of a possible policy that would be acceptable to both countries. The discussions also highlighted the areas where more work needed to be done to build the requisite levels of trust to work together productively and sustainably.
