Pak-US talks to counter terrorism today.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan and the United States will hold a twoday counter-terrorism dialogue from today (March 6-7) in Islamabad. Additional Secretary (UN and ED) Syed Haider Shah will lead Pakistan delegation and the US delegation will be headed by Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Christopher Landberg. 'The dialogue is aimed at discussing common threat of terrorism, cooperation at multilateral fora and countering financing of terrorism,' Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said yesterday.

She said the two-day dialogue would provide an opportunity for both sides to exchange views and share their experiences and best practices in the domain of counter- terrorism. Last week, a US State Department announcement said that participants in the Islamabad meeting would 'develop policy-oriented strategies regarding cooperation in critical areas such as border security and countering the financing of terrorism.'

The talks come against the backdrop of the resurgence in terrorist attacks in Pakistan being linked to Afghanistan.

The violence has killed hundreds of people across the country, most of them security forces. Last month, a high-level Pakistani delegation had visited Kabul, where they conveyed 'serious concerns' to Taliban leaders about the escalating terror campaign in Pakistan.

The Pakistani delegation shared 'irrefutable' evidence with the Taliban about the presence and activities of militant leaders in...