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ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador Cameron Munter met President Asif Ali Zardari at the presidency on Tuesday after his second meeting in two days with Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir.
Presidency’s Spokesman Farhatullah Babar only said the president and the ambassador discussed bilateral relations. He declined to give details of issues taken up, but sources said that the ambassador might have conveyed to the president some message from his government.
Earlier, the president and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met at the presidency and reviewed the situation. They were joined by Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Secretary General to the President Salman Faruqui and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, said Mr Babar.
The meeting discussed the upcoming all-party conference convened on Thursday to formulate national stance on allegations levelled by the US against Pakistan’s armed forces and its intelligence arm ISI.
“Reposing confidence in the ability of democratic leadership to stand united at all times that call for unity, the president expressed the hope that the country’s political leadership would be able to reach consensus on issues of national concern,” the spokesman said.
The meeting also discussed the devastation caused by floods in Sindh and relief and rehabilitation measures.
Later, President Zardari attended a reception at the Chinese Embassy organised in connection with China’s National Day which is celebrated on October 1.
Speaking on the occasion, the president said the challenge and opportunity for Pakistan and China were to reshape their exemplary friendship into a modern 21st century partnership.
“Together, the two nations have supported each other through thick and thin and forged ahead, hand in hand. Together, our future generations, will accomplish much,” he said.
He thanked the government and people of China for timely assistance for flood victims in Sindh.
Expressing the hope that the people of Pakistan would be able to overcome this calamity with the assistance of friends in the international community, Mr Zardari said the Chinese help was the mark of a true friend, for which, the Pakistani people were truly grateful.
“October 1, 1949, marked not only the birth of the People’s Republic, but also the birth of a miracle, a brilliant chapter in the story of humankind. This Chinese miracle continues to unfold to this day,” he said.
Mr Zardari said in arts and craft, in culture and commerce, in social and economic development, in science and technology, indeed in any and every field of human endeavour, China continues to break barrier after barrier, cross one threshold after another.
“We also celebrate the friendship between our two peoples and it is not a coincidence that 2011 was also being celebrated in both China and Pakistan as the Year of Sino-Pak friendship,” he said.
Terming as his proud privilege to carry on the mantle, the president said it was a matter of great pride that the foundations of historic Pak-China partnership were laid by the founder of Pakistan People’s Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and was carried forward resolutely by Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
