|
|
|
| February 9, 2002 | Saturday | Ziqa’ad 25, 1422 |
Musharraf to seek revival of mly ties with US
WASHINGTON, Feb 8: Agreements on science and technology and on reviving the defence policy group and discussions on further easing the bilateral debt burden are expected to highlight Gen Pervez Musharraf’s visit to the United States next week.
Officials were also said to be working on the outlines of an understanding relating to security of military information, but it was uncertain whether this would be finalized in time for the general’s visit. The US has recently entered into a similar agreement with India.
The general will meet President George Bush at the White House on Feb 13 during a crowded three-day Washington schedule, and will also have discussions with Vice-President Richard Cheney and the secretaries of state, defence and treasury.
Gen Musharraf and President Bush met in New York last November, but next week’s meeting will mark the first White House-level talks between them, and diplomats here say the general’s visit has both a symbolic and a substantive content.
It sets the seal on formal US acceptance of Gen Musharraf, who came to power as the result of a military take-over, as Pakistan’s president, and it comes as part of a re-engagement process between the US and Pakistan, with Washington saying it is looking for a long-term and enduring partnership. The visit will also be the first by a Pakistani leader in a decade when Pakistan is no longer under US-imposed sanctions. In announcing the trip, which it had characterized as an “official working” visit, the White House had said Gen Musharraf’s timetable for elections and Pakistan’s return to democracy would among subjects to be discussed.
A senior State Department official told Dawn on Friday a number of issues would be discussed within the framework of America’s “renewed bilateral relationship” with Pakistan, including cooperation in the coalition’s campaign against terrorism, support for the Afghan interim administration and US assistance for economic and education reforms in Pakistan.
The contours of a new relationship might have begun to emerge even before the events of Sept 11, but the attacks and America’s need for regional allies in its military campaign in Afghanistan accelerated efforts to construct a new bilateral framework. Military-to-military contacts have also been resumed, and $51m of the $350m proposed for Pakistan by the Bush administration for the next financial year are earmarked for foreign military financing and the international military education and training programme.
The India-Pakistan confrontation, with troops of both countries massed on their common border, will be a key issue in the Musharraf-Bush talks, but Pakistan will hope that i