Pak PM Abbasi to visit US in September: Sources

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will visit the United States in the third week of September to attend the United Nations General Assembly session, Geo News reported sources, as saying.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif will also accompany Abbasi to the United States.

This will be the newly-elected prime minister's maiden trip to the US.

The visit comes amid tense relations between the two countries following Trumps' criticism of Pakistan for providing safe haven to terrorists.

Earlier, Abbasi said the United States' new Afghanistan policy is going to fail like the previous ones.

"From day one, we have been saying very clearly the military strategy in Afghanistan has not worked and it will not work", the Bloomberg News quoted Abbasi, as saying.

He further said that Islamabad supports the fight against terrorism and it won't let the war in Afghanistan spill into Pakistan.

Earlier, a source has said that Islamabad is trying to mount a diplomatic offensive to muster the support of friendly countries in the face of Trump's allegations that Pakistan was hosting terrorist 'safe havens' on its soil, the Express Tribune reported.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will visit China, Russia and Turkey for consultations on the U.S.'s new South Asia strategy.

Pakistan's National Security Committee took the decision for the visit in a meeting on Thursday, which focusses on the United States new policy for the South Asian countries, especially Afghanistan.

"Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif will be visiting regional countries for consultations," Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said.

After consulting with three nations, Pakistan will be convening an international conference to highlight its contribution towards the war against terrorism and to adopt a new policy which will call a halt to Washington's unending demand to 'do more' on the issue.

However, Nafees Zakaria underscored that the differences between Pakistan and the U.S. over the new policy did not mean a rupture in ties.

Showing similar sentiment, Pakistan's civil and military leadership said scapegoating them will not help stabilise the war-ravaged Afghanistan.

In a clear ultimatum to Islamabad, Trump said Pakistan has to change its "double game" policy or face the consequences.