As Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif landed in Washington DC for meetings with US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State

John Kerry, there was less anticipation than is usual for such a high-profile visit. This may be because no one expects any progress on the irritants that continue to plague the relationship. Pakistan will, as it always does, bring up the issue of drone attacks and this time it will have the moral backing of a UN report on drone attacks. The report found that claims of civilian deaths have been consistently underplayed by the US and that these strikes violate international law. For the most part the report takes the same tack as the now official Pakistan government position. That does not mean, however, that the US will certainly agree to halt drone attacks. The US has no history of listening to the UN or complying with international law when they clash with what it perceives to be its interests. The best that can be hoped for is that the US agrees to keep reducing the frequency with which it carries out these attacks. Another outstanding issue on which there is little hope of finding mutual ground is the scenario in Afghanistan once the US begins withdrawing its forces next year. The Americans suspect that we continue to covertly support the Afghan Taliban, they have also always been displeased at our refusal to carry out military operations against the Haqqani Network. Despite our making all the right noises on not interfering in Afghanistan and even releasing Afghan Taliban prisoners, as requested by Hamid Karzai, the mistrust of Pakistan by both the US and Afghanistan is not going to go away. At least the mood at the meeting should be a little more congenial since the Coalition Support Fund just released $322 million to Pakistan and the US Congress seems ready to resume sending aid that had been suspended in 2011. In fact, Nawaz Sharif would do well to focus as much on economic issues as political ones while he is in Washington. He needs to make clear to Obama and Kerry that the best solution to our power woes lies in the Iranian gas pipeline and that we will go ahead with it no matter what punitive actions the US might take against us. We should also be trying to secure US investment in our power sector and try to boost bilateral trade. The political issues may seem too vexing to solve but the Washington trip could still be a success on the economic front.

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