ISLAMABAD: US President George W. Bush arrived here on his first visit to Pakistan on Friday night to a cold and colourless welcome. In sharp contrast to his arrival at New Delhi, where he was received at the airport by the Indian prime minister, Mr Bush landed in Islamabad in the dark of the night to be accorded a welcome measured by minimum protocol.

At the Chaklala airbase he was received by Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and his wife. Surprisingly the president or prime minister did not turn up at the airport to receive the US president. Instead, Mr Bush was welcomed by life-sized portraits of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz displayed at the airport terminal with long green and white banners that said: ‘President George W. Bush - Friend of Pakistan’ and ‘Welcome to our distinguished guests’. Perhaps to make up for their absence, President Musharraf sent his daughter to welcome the guests.

The airport ceremony was very brief. Maybe because of security reasons. No red carpet was rolled out or the traditional 21-gun salute was given to the US president who came to Pakistan on one day and night state visit. Two girls, clad in bright red outfits, presented bouquets to President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. The formal ceremonial welcome was reserved for Mr Bush’s arrival at the presidency on Saturday.

Notably there was no long reception line and the only other cabinet member to receive the US president was Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar. In fact there were more Americans, mostly security personnel, than Pakistanis.

While US Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker was there, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Jehangir Karamat was not. He had stayed back at his station of duty.

The Chaklala airport had virtually been taken over by the Americans. The US security personnel, including secret service agents and commandos with their elaborate paraphernalia that included sniffer dogs, swarmed the airbase four hours ahead of President Bush’s arrival.

It was all over in less than five minutes. The US Air Force One touched down at 8.50pm after three decoy landings. President Bush emerged from the aircraft at 9pm and after quick handshakes with the hosts he boarded a Black Hawk chopper waiting for him there. Mr Bush and the first lady were flown straight to the US embassy, their home during the visit.

Apparently the decision for ‘a measured’ welcome was taken on the morning of Mr Bush’s arrival at a high-level meeting at the Aiwan-i-Sadr. The meeting was also attended by the prime minister. However, what transpired in Delhi during Mr Bush’s trip should not have come as a surprise for Islamabad. Delhi-Washington ‘tight embrace’ has long been ‘in the works’.

Many observers in Pakistan wondered if the measured welcome should be interpreted as a ‘cold shoulder’ given to the US president. As Washington and New Delhi settle down to a ‘historic embrace,’ Islamabad will have to re-examine the nature of its own relations with Washington. Is Pakistan letting itself be taken for granted is the question that is now being asked in Pakistan. President Musharraf’s critics insist yes. Indo-US nuclear deal and then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice making it clear that Pakistan does not qualify for such a deal have raised new concerns in Islamabad. Also, for many in Pakistan’s opinion-making circles equally disconcerting factors are the US offer of advanced weapons systems to India, with the potential to destabilize the existing credible nuclear deterrence within South Asia, and Washington’s constant prodding that Islamabad do more on war on terrorism.