Islamabad, Mar. 21 : Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has expressed the hope that the upcoming strategic talks with the US on March 24 in Washington would ‘successfully achieve concrete results and tangible goals’.

During a meeting with US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson here, Gilani identified some of the key issues to be discussed during the talks, and said Islamabad would like to make progress in negotiations with the US in various other areas as well.

He said capacity building of Pakistan’s law-enforcement agencies, efforts to expedite the provision of economic assistance under the Kerry-Lugar bill and the Coalition Support Fund, power generation, water conservation, and education would be some of the major issues which would be discussed during the next week’s deliberations.

“Pakistan would adopt a realistic and pragmatic approach at the talks,” The Daily Times quoted Gilani, as adding.

While the Pakistani delegation would be headed by Foreign Minster Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during the forthcoming talks, the US will be represented by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. Patterson would also be taking part in the dialogue.

Gilani also said that he is eagerly looking forward to his meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in April.

In a separate meeting with the British High commissioner, Adam Thomson, Gilani urged the international community to help Pakistan build the capacity of its security agencies and support it in the reconstruction of the areas claimed back by security forces by flushing out extremists.

Gilani also took up the matter of delay in the issuance of visas for Pakistani students and businessmen and asked British High commission to clear the backlog. (ANI)