The United States (US) is having conversations with the Pakistani leadership about the need to shut down the safe havens for Taliban militants along the Afghan-Pakistan border that are providing a source of more insecurity and instability inside Afghanistan, the Pentagon has said, as Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke over phone with Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Austin, in a phone call with Gen Bajwa on Monday, discussed the current situation in Afghanistan, regional security issues and the bilateral defence ties, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said. During the phone call, Austin expressed his interest in continuing to improve the US-Pakistan relationship and build upon their multiple shared interests in the region, Kirby said on Monday in a readout of the conversation.