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The extent to which the Barack Obama administration will go to humour Pakistan is highlighted by the fact that its envoy to United Kingdom drove four hours to Manchester to ensure that a zealous American airline security does not body-scan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi ahead of his arrival in Washington.
When Qureshi's commercial flight to the US stopped in Manchester this week, American Ambassador in London Louis B Susman drove four hours to be there for the hour-long layover.
Susman's mission was to 'avoid any unpleasantness -- including the possibility that British-based US airline security might insist on body-scanning Qureshi -- that might start the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue in Washington off on the wrong foot," the Washington Post reported.
As Pakistan and the US struggle to overcome what both characterise as a mutual 'trust deficit', the Obama administration hopes that the upgraded strategic talks will consolidate the new partnership the President promised in exchange for Pakistan's cooperation in shutting down Taliban and Al Qaeda havens in that country, the paper said.
Qureshi and his American counterpart Hillary Clinton held the strategic dialogue in Washington on Wednesday.