PAKISTANI-US relations have dramatically deteriorated this year over the May 2 American raid that killed Osama bin Laden near Islamabad and accusations over a US embassy siege in Kabul last month that dragged on for 19 hours.
Dempsey`s predecessor Admiral Mike Mullen called the Haqqani network the "veritable arm" of Pakistan`s ISI and accused its spies of being involved in the siege.
US commanders say the Haqqanis are their most potent enemy in eastern Afghanistan and increasingly capable of attacking in Kabul.
But in what Pakistanis are likely to interpret as a contradiction, Clinton said her talks will focus on "how to increase pressure on the safe havens" while urging the country to support efforts at negotiations.
"We believe that they can play either a constructive or a destructive role in helping to bring into talks those with whom the Afghans themselves must sit across the table and hammer out a negotiated settlement," she said.
Gilani meanwhile urged Clinton to "give peace a chance" in the decade-long war in Afghanistan after reconciliation efforts with the Taliban swerved off course with the recent killing of Afghan chief negotiator Burhanuddin Rabbani.
He also called on Clinton to not let disagreements overshadow the US-Pakistan "strategic relationship".
"Disagreements between the coalition partners in the war on terror should not undermine strategic relationship which is so vital for the promotion of mutual interests of the two countries," Gilani said.
But Karzai stressed on "shifting the focus" of the peace effort to Pakistan, saying that its establishment controls the Taliban to a "very, very great extent".
