ISLAMABAD, MARCH 6, SPA -- Pakistan and the United States will resume their strategic dialogue by the third week of the current month, leading English language daily The News reported. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns will lead the American delegation, while Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan will head the Pakistan side. Iran s nuclear controversy and its ramifications for the countries of the region and the war on terror will figure prominently in the discussions, the report said. The peace process between Pakistan and India, US military assistance for Pakistan and proposed legislation pertaining to the certification by US president for cooperation with Pakistan will also be deliberated upon. It is expected that the undersecretary would take Pakistan into confidence about a legislation that is under way in the American Congress, which Pakistan has resented. The bilateral investment treaty (BIT) is yet another issue likely to come up for brainstorming. Pakistan is not agreeable to the draft of the US experts on the subject. Burns, who visited Pakistan in February last year, has visited India thrice since then. He had planned to visit Pakistan in November last but kept deferring it for one reason or the other. Islamabad has been informed through diplomatic sources that the undersecretary would come here for three days later this month to have the second round of their strategic dialogue, which Pakistan and the US agreed on a regular basis in March last year, when President George Bush visited Islamabad.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/430564