Khar to meet Clinton in London

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said she'd meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in London as their countries' relations remain strained. Khar, speaking at a joint news conference in London with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, said the meeting with Clinton would be held Thursday on the sidelines of an international meeting on Somalia, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Relations between the United States and Pakistan have been strained over a number of developments, including the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces inside Pakistan in May 2011 and the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO airstrike in November. A Pakistani parliamentary committee has been reviewing the country's relationship with the United States. "Yes, I will be looking forward to meet Secretary Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the Somalia meeting," Khar said, PTI reported. "We hope that for the goals that we share, the shared goals and objectives in the region, that of peace and stability within the region, within Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States will be able to foster our ties." Khar said her government is trying to expand the scope of bilateral relationship "by giving it parliamentary ownership." "In Britain we are committed to a relationship with Pakistan that is deep, long term and strategic," Hague was quoted as saying. A Washington Post report on the Clinton-Khar meeting said the administration of President Barack Obama has been noticeably quiet about Pakistan. In retaliation for the November NATO airstrike, Pakistan closed its land routes for supplying NATO troops in neighboring landlocked Afghanistan. The Post report said while the parliamentary committee review on bilateral relations goes on, Pakistani officials have indicated new guidelines would include a tax on supply convoys to Afghanistan. Currently, coalition forces rely on supplies previously held in stock and on other transit routes that cost more, the report said. Pakistan said last week it would temporarily allow perishable food to be shipped to troops in Afghanistan.