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Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will raise the issue of drone attacks with U.S. President Barrack Obama in Washington later this month, the country's top diplomat said Saturday.
Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani said that the prime minister would continue to raise this issue with President Obama when they meet at White House on October 23.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had extended invitation to Sharif in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month, the Foreign Ministry said.
It will be Sharif's first meeting with Obama since he assumed office in June this year.
"The issue of American drone strikes was raised by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his visit to the United Nations and also his General Assembly's speech and other forums. He will take up the matter with President Barrack Obama and will also keep on raising the issue at other forums," Jilani told reporters in Islamabad.
Pakistan has demanded the U.S. to stop these counterproductive attacks however the U.S. has ruled out any change to the CIA-run secret campaign.
The U.S. says the drones target al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who hole up in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal regions and launch cross-border attacks on neighboring Afghanistan.
Islamabad also argues that the drone strikes violate its sovereignty and international laws and spark anti-American sentiment.
Jilani also urged India to come to negotiating table instead of leveling allegations against Pakistan to find out peaceful solution to the disputes.
He said that the issue of foreign intervention in Pakistan's Balochistan province was raised by Sharif during meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in New York last month.
The foreign secretary expressed hope that the dialogue process with India would grow, adding that Pakistan had as many concerns about terrorism as India. "The issue of terrorism will not be resolved by hurling accusations."
