WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in Washington on Sunday on a four-day trip to the United States to discuss issues that have soured relations between the two countries.

The visit begins on a positive note. A day before his arrival, the Obama administration announced it was releasing more than $1.6 billion in economic and military assistance to Pakistan.

The prime minister begins his official engagements with a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry late Sunday afternoon. Since Secretary Kerry will be in Europe from Oct 21 to 24, this will be his only meeting with the prime minister.

Mr Kerry and the prime minister will have their senior aides with them as the two sides are also expected to review the agenda for the Obama-Sharif meeting.

The prime minister will meet US President Barack Obama at the White House on Wednesday which both sides hope will help remove recent misunderstandings that had adversely affected an otherwise close relationship between the two sides.

US State Department’s deputy spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters on Sunday that the Obama administration’s decision to release funds for Pakistan also intended to normalise the relationship.

“Funding was notified to Congress following a rigorous planning process over multiple months, to ensure it was in line with both US and Pakistani interests,” she said. “And it would deliver important results for both countries.”

In two recent statements, the White House also emphasised the need for rebuilding once close ties with Pakistan, adding that President Obama would also focus on this aspect in his meeting with Mr Sharif.

“The president looks forward to discussions with Prime Minister Sharif on ways we can advance our shared interest of a stable, secure, and prosperous Pakistan,” the statement added.

Relations between Pakistan and the US have been on the mend this year after lurching from crisis to crisis in 2011 and 2012. While talking to the media on the decision to release US assistance to Pakistan after almost two years, a State Department official also noted “signs of greater cooperation” from Pakistan on issues of mutual concern.

Ms Harf said that resuming aid was “part of a long process of restarting security assistance cooperation after implementation was slowed during the bilateral challenges of 2011 and 2012”.

Drone attacks

But one issue that can affect the process of rebuilding ties is that of US drone strikes. The prime minister, before leaving for Washington, told reporters that he would urge Mr Obama to stop the strikes.

Pakistan argues that the strikes violate its sovereignty and also kill a large number of innocent civilians. The United States says that the targets are carefully selected and the strikes have also eliminated militants who were killing Pakistani citizens and soldiers.

A US official told reporters in Washington that the Americans were willing to discuss the drone issue with the Pakistanis, but only as “part of a very comprehensive conversation we have on security across the board”.

The official said that discussions on “security issues will be a key theme” in the Obama-Sharif meeting, “not just drones, the larger issue of security”, he added.

In a report on the Sharif-Obama meeting, The New York Times pointed out that the future of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops in 2014, could be “another point of contention” between the United States and Pakistan.

“American officials believe that Pakistan can play a key role in efforts to draw the Afghan Taliban into peace talks, yet remain suspicious of the Pakistani military’s links to certain militant factions such as the Haqqani network,” the report added.This is Mr Sharif’s first visit to Washington since his re-election in May this year and he plans to use it also for reaching out to US lawmakers, traders, think-tanks and the media.

Besides meeting US officials, the prime minister is also addressing a meeting of the Pakistan-US Business Council and a gathering of scholars at the US Institute for Peace.