ISLAMABAD, April 13 (Xinhuanet) -- US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will arrive in Islamabad Wednesday to hold talks with top Pakistani leadership on terrorism, nuclear proliferation, Iraq andAfghanistan as well as other global and regional issues.

    The English-language newspaper The Nation quoted official sources as saying that the US defense secretary will meet with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and he is also likely to callon Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and other senior officials.

    During these high-level meetings, host of issues including war on terror, nuclear proliferation as well as the latest situation in Iraq and Afghanistan would be taken up for discussion, the official sources said.

    Rumsfeld's visit to Pakistan in the wake of abduction of an official of Pakistani embassy in Iraq is amidst speculations that he may once again ask for Pakistani troops' deployment in Iraq.

    However, Foreign Office Spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani, at his weekly press briefing on Monday, said there has been no change in Pakistan's policy on troops for Iraq, saying that Malik Muhammad Javed appears to have been kidnapped for ransom.

    Another important issue that would figure up for discussions during Rumsfeld's visit is the defense ties between Pakistan and the United States, Pakistani officials said.

    While Musharraf decided to back the US-led war on terror after "911" in 2001, which has angered Islamic hard-liners at home, Washington has rewarded Pakistan for the move.

    The United States has granted major military and economic aid to Pakistan in the past three years, and last month announced thatit would sell Pakistan US-made F-16 fighter jets, fulfilling a long-standing request by Islamabad.

    Rumsfeld, who was in Iraq on Tuesday, would also travel to several other regional countries including Afghanistan. Enditem