By Bernama,
Canberra : Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on Monday that his country will renew its offer of counter-terrorism assistance to Pakistan, after the suicide truck bombing of an Islamabad hotel which killed at least 53 people.
China’s Xinhua news agency quoted Smith as saying to ABC Radio that he would hold formal bilateral talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmoohd Qureshi this week.
“Australia is ready, willing and able to offer Pakistan whatever assistance it needs in terms of technical assistance and advice in meeting the terrorist threat that it faces,” Smith said.
Smith is currently in New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
“I will be having that conversation with Foreign Minister Qureshi in the course of this week,” he said.
Pakistan has blamed al-Qaeda linked Taliban militants for the weekend’s massive bombing at the Marriott Hotel.