US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Pakistan on Monday for what is likely to be a day of tough talks with senior officials about security and the use of US drones - the first Pentagon chief to visit Islamabad in almost four years.

The United States has long had a complicated relationship with Pakistan, and ties have been further soured by a dispute over US drones targeting militants. Islamabad says such strikes kill too many civilians and violate its sovereignty.

Hagel's visit comes on the heels of the latest interruption of US military shipments out of Afghanistan through the main border crossings into Pakistan. Anti-US protests along the route in Pakistan prompted the US to stop the shipments from Torkham Gate through Karachi last week, due to worries about the safety of the truckers.

The protests center on the CIA's drone program. Pakistan has called the drone attacks a violation of the country's sovereignty, but the issue is muddied by the fact that Islamabad and the Pakistani military have supported at least some of the strikes in the past.

The Pakistani government blocked the routes for seven months following US airstrikes that accidentally killed two dozen soldiers on the Afghan border in November 2011. Pakistan finally reopened the routes after the US apologized.

In Islamabad, Hagel was expected to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other senior officials including the newly appointed army chief, Raheel Sharif.

A senior US defense official said Hagel hoped to work with Pakistan to deepen the security partnership and reassure it of continued US assistance in building its military capacity.

Reuters-AP

(China Daily 12/10/2013 page11)