U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will travel to Pakistan on Monday for talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other senior officials, the first Pentagon chief to make such a visit in nearly four years, a spokesman said.
"Secretary Hagel met with Prime Minister Sharif on his visit to Washington earlier this year and looks forward to continuing candid and productive conversations about our important security partnership and how to address common threats," Pentagon spokesman Carl Woog said.
The announcement of the Pakistan trip came as Hagel was visiting neighboring Afghanistan, where he spoke with U.S. troops at bases in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. Woog said Hagel would talk to Sharif and other Pakistani leaders about their shared interest in a stable future for Afghanistan.
