U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Pakistan on Wednesday for a brief visit on his whistle-stop tour of the region, with the war in Afghanistan and the issue of militants once again set to dominate discussions with Pakistan.
Pompeo is next due to visit India, the main stop of his South Asia tour, where he is expected to pile pressure on New Delhi over its purchases of Iranian oil and Russian missile systems in talks with senior Indian officials.
In Pakistan, Pompeo will meet new premier Imran Khan and the army chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa, against a backdrop of tense ties and U.S. military aid cuts over Islamabad's alleged reluctance to crack down on militants.
Tehreek-e-Insaf nominee Dr. Arif Alvi was elected president of Pakistan on Tuesday, according to unofficial results.The president is elected through a secret ballot by lawmakers from the Senate, National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies.Three candidates are running for the office of the president. The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and its allies nominated Dr. Arif Alvi, while Pakistan People Party’s candidate is Aitzaz Ahsan. Other opposition parties have nominated Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s President Maulana Fazlu Rehman as their candidate.The opposition parties failed to reach a consensus to field a joint candidate despite several meetings between their leaders on Monday.In Pakistan, the president is a symbol of federation and head of the state, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but exercises power upon the recommendations of the prime minister.The incumbent President Mamnoon Hussain’s five-year term will end on Sept. 9.
Arif Alvi elected president of Pakistan: unofficial results
Relations between uneasy allies United States and Pakistan have frayed in recent years, with Washington accusing Islamabad of turning a blind eye or helping Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network militants who stage attacks in Afghanistan. Pakistan denies doing so.
A Reuters reporter saw Pompeo's plane land at Islamabad airport just before 1 p.m. (0800 GMT).
Pakistan's new foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said he would "have exchanges" with Pompeo over Washington's cancellation of a $300-million disbursement for the Pakistani military.
The chief executive of Pakistan's loss-making national airline on Tuesday stepped down on the order of the Supreme Court, which has ruled his appointment was made in violation of the rules and regulations.The court order was the latest blow to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which was reported last year to be losing up to $30 million per month, as well as the latest sign of the Supreme Court taking a hands-on approach to government-run businesses.PIA named Musharraf Rasool Cyan as its chief executive late last year, entrusting him with turning around the national carrier's fortunes.Cyan, who the PIA had described as a "professional technocrat", was tasked by the outgoing government of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to improve the carrier's reputation, which was dented by allegations of financial mismanagement.Voting begins in Pakistan's presidential electionA three-member panel headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar ruled on Monday that Cyan neither met the criteria for the job, nor had any aviation experience.The PIA's counsel Naeem Bukhari argued aviation experience wasn't mandatory for the job, which the court rejected.One of the three judges remarked that Cyan's appointed was illegal because he got the job due to his links with an adviser to the former prime minister.The PIA's spokesman, Mashhood Tajwar, told Reuters by phone that the "court decision has been implemented in letter and spirit." He said Cyan had relinquished his duties.Tajwar said the airlines' board of governors would find an interim CEO until a permanent replacement was made.Cyan's appointment followed the removal of the PIA's German chief executive Bernd Hildenbrand, who was ousted in April last year after authorities launched a corruption investigation into the leasing of planes from a Sri Lankan carrier.In an interview with Reuters in March 2017, Hildenbrand said PIA was losing about 3.1 billion rupees ($30 million) per month, while Gulf-based rivals such as Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines were eating into its market share. 
CEO of Pakistan's national airline steps down on order of top court
Taking a tougher line with an ally that U.S. President Donald Trump considers unreliable, the United States halted the disbursement of Coalition Support Funds due to Islamabad's perceived failure to take decisive action against Afghan Taliban militants operating from Pakistani soil.
The United States has withheld $800 million this year, cuts Pakistan says are unwarranted as it incurs expenses in fighting militants who pose a danger to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Pompeo is also expected to discuss Pakistan's possible plans to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ease currency pressures and avert an economic crisis.
Islamabad on Sunday disputed the U.S. claim that it had canceled aid to Pakistan.Earlier on Sunday, the U.S. and Pakistani media reported that Pentagon has decided to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan over alleged failure to take decisive action against militant groups."It was no aid which the Pentagon has decided to cancel but it was our money that we spent from our own resources and now Washington has to reimburse," Qureshi explained.US military to end $300 million aid to Pakistan"Pakistan has sacrificed thousands of lives and spent huge amounts from their own resources against terrorism and now U.S. had to reimburse that amount under the Coalition Support Fund," Shah Mehmood Qureshi, foreign minister of Pakistan told the reporters in the capital city Islamabad. The foreign minister added that he would take this issue up with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's during his visit to Islamabad on Sept. 5.“Currently Pakistan and U.S. ties are suspended but we will try to improve ties between Islamabad and Washington during Secretary Pompeo's upcoming visit to Islamabad,” Qureshi hoped.Pakistan ‘stands by’ Iran on nuclear deal issueRelations between the two allies in the war against terrorism have deteriorated since January, last year, after U.S. President Donald Trump assumed office, mainly because of a clash of interests in war-torn Afghanistan. Washington accuses Islamabad of providing a safe haven to the powerful Haqqni network, which is blamed for numerous brazen attacks on foreign forces in Afghanistan. However, Pakistan denies the charges and said it needed acknowledgment of its sacrifices in the war on terror.Pakistan to raise anti-Islam cartoon issue in UNPakistani party protests Dutch cartoon contest
Pakistan disputes US claim that it has canceled aid
In July, Pompeo said there was "no rationale" for the IMF to give money to Pakistan that would then be used to pay off Chinese loans, comments that further rattled Islamabad.
Pompeo and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will meet their Indian counterparts in New Delhi on Thursday, and are expected to finalise defence pacts that could bring their militaries closer amid China's rising influence.
The talks come as U.S. hostility rises towards India's traditional allies Iran and Russia, on which Washington has placed sanctions. Iran is a big oil supplier to India, and two-thirds of its military equipment is from Russia.
"They're part of the conversation, they're part of the relationship, they will certainly come up, but I don't think they will be the primary focus of what it is we're trying to accomplish here," Pompeo told U.S. pool reporters en route to Pakistan.
The U.S. military said it has decided to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan over alleged failure to take decisive action against militant groups, state-run media reported.Pentagon is seeking an approval from Congress, Radio Pakistan reported, quoting Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Kone Faulkner.The announcement comes days before U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo's expected visit to Pakistan to meet the new prime minister, Imran Khan.The U.S. blocked $500 million to Pakistan earlier this year, as part of its reimbursement for the country's role in the war on terror in Afghanistan.Relations between the two allies in the war against terrorism have deteriorated since January, last year, after U.S. President Donald Trump assumed office, mainly because of a clash of interests in war-torn Afghanistan.Washington accuses Islamabad of providing a safe haven to the powerful Haqqani network, which is blamed for numerous brazen attacks on foreign forces in Afghanistan.However, Pakistan denies the charges and said it needed acknowledgment of its sacrifices in the war on terror.
US military to end $300 million aid to Pakistan