ISLAMABAD: President Ayub and General de Gaulle of France are expected to go over a wide range of international problems and will discuss bilateral relations between Pakistan and France in their forthcoming meeting in Paris, a Foreign office spokesman said here today [Oct 12].

President Ayub is leaving Karachi on Oct 16 on a four-day official visit to France. He will arrive in Paris on Oct 17 and will have an unofficial meeting with President de Gaulle the same evening.

In the official talks beginning on the morning of Oct 19, the two Heads of State are expected to discuss among other things the explosive situation in the Middle East, nuclear non-proliferation, developments in South-East Asia, bilateral trade between France and Pakistan and French economic assistance to Pakistan.

It is not unlikely that in reviewing developments in the Indo-Pakistan Sub-continent President Ayub may also refer to the military imbalance which bedevils peace in the region.

On most of the major international issues, such as the Middle East, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and peace in South-East Asia, with which France has historical links, Pakistan and France have almost identical views.

Personally, President de Gaulle, like President Ayub, has been following a pro-Arab line. His outspoken demand that Israel should vacate aggression had caused controversy both at home and abroad.

France has also been in the frontline of European countries to have acknowledged the importance of resolving the Jammu and Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2017