WASHINGTON, Feb 26: Pakistan hopes that President George W. Bush’s recognition of a global need for nuclear energy may “open the door” for other countries to benefit from a nuclear cooperation between India and the US.

“It may move away from an India-specific accord and leave the door open for other countries as well,” Ambassador Jehangir Karamat told Dawn while commenting on the importance of President Bush’s week-long visit to South Asia.

Expanding the scope of the nuclear deal his administration is trying to conclude with India, President Bush indicated earlier this week that Pakistan and other developing economies could also benefit from this arrangement for promoting non-fossil sources of energy.

In two days, President Bush begins his week-long visit to South Asia which some observers in Washington say is as important as President Nixon’s landmark trip to China that set the stage for unprecedented Sino-American economic engagement.

President Bush’s visit to India promises to be an “epoch-making event” despite lingering differences over a landmark civilian nuclear deal that has eluded a consensus so far, says Karl Inderfurth, a South Asia specialist at George Washington University and a former member of the National Security Council staff.

“The rise of China and India will be the defining geopolitical reality of the 21st Century. That’s pretty important company to be keeping,” he said.

The Newsweek magazine predicts that “if successful, the visit could alter the strategic landscape, bringing India firmly and irrevocably onto the world state as a major player.”

Never in the recent past, a presidential visit to any region has generated so much interest in the US. There are at least two discussions, seminars or symposia a day. The visit has been debated in congressional hearings. US newspapers have published dozens of articles a day. In Sunday’s Washington Post, there are half a dozen articles on the visit, including three about Pakistan.

Arriving in India on March 1, the First Lady and President Bush will be flying to Pakistan on March 4. Although most of their time will be devoted to discussing business and treaties, they will have some time for fun as well; playing cricket in Pakistan and riding a tonga in India.

In a recent roundtable interview with Indian reporters, President Bush hoped that his visit to South Asia will be a “groundbreaking” trip, setting the stage for a “strategic relationship” between the

two democracies, the US and India.

Later in his interview to Dawn and another Pakistani newspaper, President Bush emphasized that America’s relationship with India was not at the expense of its ties with Pakistan.

Although there will be no talks on a nuclear strategic deal with Pakistan during the visit, President Bush plans to sign a bilateral investment treaty. Pakistani and US officials are still trying to finalize the agreement but they hope that it will be ready for signing when President Bush arrives in Islamabad on March 4.

Media reports indicate that President Pervez Musharraf also plans to raise security and energy-related issues with President Bush in one-to-one talks. Energy-related issues do not just include Pakistan’s interest in developing nuclear power as an alternative source but also in the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.

As always, Kashmir will figure prominently in the US-Pakistan talks and in his interviews to both Indian and Pakistani journalists, Mr Bush made it clear that the US wants this long-simmering issue to be settled to the satisfaction of all three parties — Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris.