April 11, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 4, 1429

LONDON, April 10: British foreign secretary David Miliband is scheduled to stop over Islamabad on his way to Kabul later this month ostensibly to get to know at the personal level the new decision-makers in Pakistan, informed sources said here on Wednesday.

The foreign secretary, it is believed, had wished to visit Pakistan soon after the February election results were announced and even before the visit of the two high-profile US diplomats, but was dissuaded from doing so on the advice of his foreign office which thought the most appropriate time for Mr Miliband to visit Pakistan would be after the formation of the new government.

Britain is said to be as much interested as the Americans, if not more, to know how the new government would be tackling terrorism and what would be its attitude towards the alleged links between the so-called terror training camps in Pakistan and the abortive terror plots frequently being unearthed in the UK.

Apparently for that reason, Home Secretary Jackie Smith was understood to have visited Pakistan while the date for the visit of the foreign secretary was being firmed up to enable him to meet the new Foreign Minister Shah Method Qureshi who would be out of the country for the next five days visiting China with the president.

Mr Miliband is expected also to try to know the mind of the new government about the Karzai government in Kabul and to probe the possibility of expanding trilateral cooperation in meeting the perceived challenges from Al Qaeda and Taliban elements.