Lahore, May 24: United States Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte will be in Pakistan next week to discuss important security issues with the Pakistan government.

He will ponder over various security challenges which Pakistan faces. Daily Times has reported that the recent peace deal between the local Taliban and the government, as well as the sacked judges’ will be on top of his agenda when he meets higher authorities here.

The US has been working hard to help Pakistan acquire the necessary will and tools to conduct aggressive and sustained counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations and the Pentagon will equip and train special operations units of the Pakistan Army for the purpose, Negroponte had stated on May 21.

The idea is to prevent militants from exploiting Pakistani territory as a staging ground for attacks against Afghanistan, Pakistan and beyond, the Daily Times quoted the US official as saying.

He said the terrorist problem in Pakistan and Afghanistan were “inextricably linked. “What happens on one side impacts the other side. Terrorists continue to use Pakistan’s tribal areas as safe havens and cross the border to attack Afghan and coalition forces in Afghanistan,” and added that the US must design and execute its strategy to assist Pakistan in such a way as to persuade other nations to take the problems the Pakistanis face as seriously as the US does. (ANI)