Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif paid a visit to US President Barack Obama in the White House, and urged the American leader to put an end to drone strikes in Pakistan.  It’s a sore spot between the two countries that are attempting to improve relations that have been chafed because of the drones.

“Pakistan and the United States have a strong ongoing counterterrorism cooperation.  We have agreed to further strengthen this cooperation.  I also brought up the issue of drones in our meeting, emphasizing the need for an end to such strikes,” said Prime Minister Sharif.

Under the former dictatorship of Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan occasionally condemned the drone strikes even while his intelligence service was suggesting targets to the Americans, to rid Pakistan of troublesome jihadist elements.  But the Democratically-elected Sharif government is pretty much opposed to drone strikes, which have continued despite the transfer of power.

President Obama did not directly reference drones.

“It is a challenge, it is not easy, and we committed to working together in making sure that rather than this being a source of tension between our two countries, that it can be a source of strength for us working together in a constructive and a respectful way,” said Obama.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released reports this week questioning the legality of US Drone attacks, suggesting they could be tantamount to war crimes.