ISLAMABAD, July 24: The new British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, is scheduled to arrive here on Wednesday for consultations with the top Pakistani leadership on key matters including counter-terrorism and security cooperation.
This will be his first visit to Pakistan after assuming office last month as the foreign secretary in the Gordon Brown Cabinet. Notably this will also be the first high-level visit from the UK after Pakistan formally protested and deplored the British government’s decision to knight controversial writerSalman Rushdie whose novel ‘The Satanic Verses’ outraged the Muslims worldwide.
Foreign secretary Miliband, known as the new face of British diplomacy, will hold delegation-level talks with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri at the Foreign Office on Thursday, diplomatic sources told Dawn. Mr Kasuri talked to Mr Miliband by telephone after his appointment as foreign secretary but this will be their first formal meeting.
“It is basically a familiarization trip which will also focus on bilateral matters and regional concerns particularly the situation in Afghanistan,” is how a senior foreign ministry official described it.
On the bilateral front high on the agenda would be counter-terrorism and security cooperation, informed sources said, adding that the pending extradition treaty between the two countries is also likely figure in discussion.
Foreign Secretary Miliband during his brief stay in the capital will also call on President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
Pakistan and the United Kingdom have regular high-level exchanges and enjoy multifaceted cooperation encompassing diverse areas including trade, development and defence.
UK is Pakistan’s largest trading partner in Europe and fourth largest in the world. It is the third largest overseas investor in Pakistan with over 80 British companies operating in the country. A million-strong Pakistan origin community in the UK also serves as a strong bond between the two countries.
