U.S. Rejects Sharif's Call To Get Involved On Kashmir

While the focus of the Obama-Sharif meeting would be bilateral relationship, including energy, economy and extremism, in addition to Afghanistan, the official said, "We expect India to come up at some point."

"We have been very encouraged by steps that both India and Pakistan have taken," he said "to resolve issues on the trade and energy side, in keeping with the "energy and economy theme" that Obama and Sharif would explore here.

"Obviously (they are) very positive," he said referring to the steps taken since Sharif's meeting with Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York just two days after a summit with Obama where he had called Pakistan as the epicentre of terrorism.

Like India, US officials too expressed concern that terrorism emanating from inside Pakistan could derail on-going peace talks between India and Pakistan after Sharif was voted to power in May this year.

"Cleary we would be concerned about the terrorist groups that would derail that dialogue process," the official said.

Meanwhile, meeting Sharif over dinner Sunday night, Secretary of State John Kerry said "We're very anxious to have a series of high-level, important discussions over the course of the next few days - the Vice President (Joe Biden), the President, tonight's dinner."

"We have a lot to talk about and the relationship with Pakistan could not be more important. On its own, a democracy that is working hard to get its economy moving and deal with insurgency and also important to the regional stability," he said.

Sharif, who last visited Washington in 1999 during the Kargil war before he was overthrown in a coup by Gen Pervez Musharraf, will hold a series of meetings with the top US officials and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

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