Chief US diplomat for South Asian affairs, Alice Wells, arrived in Islamabad on Sunday, after wrapping up her tour of India and Sri Lanka, for a four-day visit to Pakistan centered around talks on bilateral issues.

Sources say that during her visit, which will end on Jan 22 (Wednesday), Wells is expected to meet representatives from Pakistan's political and military leadership to talk about several issues, including Pak-US ties, the Afghan reconciliation process, ongoing tensions in the region and Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir.

She will also speak at a think tank and engage with members of civil society on what the US State Department calls “issues of bilateral and regional concern”.

Although Wells' visit comes immediately after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's trip to Washington, her trip had been planned prior.

According to a diplomatic source, the US diplomat is expected to follow up on the foreign minister's discussions in Washington where he met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser Robert O’ Brien, and Under Secretary of Defence John Rood.

The foreign minister recently concluded a three-day visit to the United States — the third leg of his mission to defuse tensions in the Middle East — after having already visited Tehran and Riyadh as part of Pakistan's diplomatic efforts to ease tensions in the region.