Efforts are under way to stage high-level international talks in New York this week to debate "common strategies" to help Pakistan defeat the Islamist militant threat, a US official said Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is attending the UN General Assembly in New York, plans to meet Friday with her counterparts from Pakistan, European, Asian and Gulf Arab countries, the senior official said.
The official told reporters on the condition of anonymity he would not name the countries that are expected to participate, though he expected new Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to attend.
"I don't think I want to give out the (full) list yet because we're kind of still pinning down participation, but to get an initial group together that may then be expanded over time," the official said.
The meeting is designed to "talk through the big challenges Pakistan faces," he said.
The goal is "try to work out common strategies, understand Pakistani plans and commitments — what they're going to do in areas like education, or the economy, or stability and security and look at how our assistance programs can support those efforts," he said.
The United States first discussed the idea with countries like Britain and the United Arab Emirates, he said.
"It's not to deal with the immediate economic issues," he said.
"We see this group as a bit more of a long term effort, not just a donors conference, but a strategy group to make sure their efforts and our efforts complement each other" he said.
The State Department said Washington is also studying a proposal from Kabul for a joint force of Afghan, Pakistan and coalition troops to operate against insurgents on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
