The American official is scheduled to visit Pakistan in the last week of June, but no date has been fixed, Pakistani Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said on Thursday.
Pakistani officials are likely to raise the issue of drone strikes “at all the appropriate forums,” the spokesman said, while hinting at the scope of talks expected during Kerry’s visit.
On June 5, the Pakistani prime minister called for an immediate end to the US drone strikes in his inaugural address.
The slaughter of Pakistani civilians, including women and children, in US drone strikes has strained relations between Islamabad and Washington, and Pakistani officials have complained to the US administration on numerous occasions.
The United States says the CIA-run drone strikes primarily kill Taliban militants who threaten the US-led international forces in neighboring Afghanistan, although casualty figures show that civilians are often the victims of the non-UN-sanctioned attacks.
According to the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the United States’ drone strikes in Pakistan have killed up to 3,603 people since 2004.
GMA/KA
Source Article from http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/06/13/308826/us-secretary-of-state-to-visit-pakistan/
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