White House confirms Obama-Gilani meeting after Nuke Security Summit in Seoul

Washington: The White House has confirmed that US President Barack Obama would meet Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Seoul on Tuesday, after the Nuclear Security Summit in the South Korean capital.

"The meeting will be an opportunity for the United States and Pakistan to continue high-level consultations on areas of mutual interest," The Dawn quoted the White House, as saying in a statement.

"In particular, the President looks forward to reviewing our efforts to support an Afghan-led reconciliation process," it added.

Reports suggest that the United States is also sending its special envoy Marc Grossman to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari.

Zardari will be in Dushanbe to attend a regional conference on Afghanistan.

On Friday, Grossman had said in Brussels that Washington and Islamabad would resume talks about the possibility of reopening NATO and US supply routes to Afghanistan once Pakistan concludes its debate about new terms of engagement with the US.

Grossman said he respects the work of a Pakistani parliamentary commission that recommended this week that Islamabad should demand an unconditional apology from the US before the supply routes are reopened. It also called for an end to American drone attacks inside Pakistan.

Once Pakistan's government concludes its work, "we'll then be in a conversation with the government of Pakistan about how to go forward," Grossman said. (ANI)