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| May 25, 2005 | Wednesday | Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1426 |
Economic ties, peace process top agenda: Rocca arrives today
ISLAMABAD, May 24: US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca is scheduled to arrive here on Wednesday morning for consultations with the Pakistani leadership on a host of bilateral issues as well as key regional and global developments. Ms Rocca will call on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz later in the day. Her first official engagement during the three-day trip will be delegation-level talks at the foreign ministry which will be led by Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan from the Pakistan side. She will later call on Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri.
On Thursday, Ms Rocca will call on President Gen Pervez Musharraf. She is also expected to meet the Senate chairman, National Assembly speaker and some opposition leaders.
The foreign ministry officials said on Tuesday that during the meeting the two sides would review all aspects of bilateral relations, including political, economic and defence.
A senior official pointed out that the thrust would be on economic cooperation.
“Essentially we will be pushing for investment and greater market access,” he said.
Among the regional issues the Indo-Pakistan peace process would be a major talking point.
Ms Rocca’s visit is taking place a week after a Pakistan-India Peace Resolution was unanimously passed by the International Relations Committee of the US House of Representatives
The resolution congratulates Pakistan and India on taking “monumental steps toward achieving a comprehensive peace agreement.”
The peace resolution has received broad bipartisan support in the US Congress and is being described as a truly balanced resolution that acknowledges the admirable efforts both Pakistan and India have made recently.
The sponsor of the resolution Congresswoman Jackson Lee had met ambassadors of Pakistan and India to the United States recently and she said “both were very supportive of the resolution.”
The situation in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran’s nuclear programme, nuclear proliferation, and UN reforms are also expected to figure in discussions with Ms Rocca.
Notably, Ms Rocca arrives here at a time when the anti-US sentiment in the country has peaked because of recent disclosures about the desecration of the Holy Quran by American interrogators in Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan. Also the horrific accounts by recently released Pakistani detainees at Guantanamo Bay and published photographs of a half-naked ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain, currently in the US custody, have all but reinforced this sentiment.
The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has given call for a country-wide anti-US protest on May 27 against the desecration of the Holy Quran.
Ms Rocca’s departure is due on Saturday morning.
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