BRUSSELS, Feb 5: Efforts to secure European Parliament's endorsement of a new European Union cooperation pact with Pakistan are expected to gather pace this month as an EU ministerial team led by Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen and including the bloc's External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten reaches Islamabad on Feb 18.
The visit offers Pakistani officials a vital opportunity to make the case for stronger bilateral political and trade ties with a rapidly expanding union before the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee looks at prospects for a new EU-Pakistan agreement at the end of February.
Key members of the parliamentary committee say their assessment of the pros and cons of clinching a deal with Pakistan will depend to a large extent on what Messrs Cowen and Patten have to say to the EU assembly after their trip.
The EU team's focus in Pakistan is expected to be on the domestic political situation, including human rights, two key concerns raised by Euro parliamentarians. "We have a lot of questions about Pakistani politics," says an EU diplomat.
Trade issues, especially Pakistan's unhappiness over the EU's anti-dumping duties on Pakistani bed-linen, are expected to be raised. But the EU team will be especially anxious to get first-hand information on Pakistan's improving relations with India and efforts to curb Taliban activity in Afghanistan, the two countries that the EU team will be visiting before going to Islamabad.
Pakistan and India's decision to move from confrontation to cooperation has been hailed by senior EU politicians, including Mr Patten and EU security chief Javier Solana, who say they are prepared to give the emerging friendship a helping hand.
Officials in Brussels say they could revive a longstanding proposal for technical assistance to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation's secretariat in Nepal. "Our hope is that this new momentum in South Asia will continue," says an EU diplomat.
Important hurdles remain, however. EU governments, while seeking a stronger global role and closer ties with leading Asian countries, have long been divided on how best to deal with Pakistan, with the country's complex and multi-faceted profile clearly defying easy categorization - and easy policy responses.
Despite a widening network of ties in Asia, therefore, developing a coherent strategy for relations with Pakistan remains a challenge for EU policy-makers.
While India is praised by EU politicians as the world's largest democracy and China is increasingly attractive for European investors and traders, many in the EU admit it is not easy to make a similarly strong case for a country which has a long history of military rule, a patchy human rights record and an unfortunate reputation for meddling in the affairs of its neighbours.
There is recognition, however, that Pakistan cannot be ignored. It is the world's seventh largest country, a key Muslim nation and a pivotal regional player. Crucially, also many in Europe are impressed by President Pervez Musharraf's decision post-9/11 to cut off ties with the Taliban and join the US-led campaign against terrorism, recognizing that the move has put Islamabad firmly in the western camp.
"There is a struggle in the EU between those who favour a realpolitik view of Pakistan and those who have a principled approach, with the focus on human rights," admits an EU diplomat. EU policy towards Pakistan is, therefore sometimes led by pragmatists, as was the case post-9/11, and sometimes by pro-democracy hardliners, especially in the European Parliament, who want democracy and the rule of law to get top priority.
Small wonder then that for many in Brussels and other EU capitals, tackling Pakistan's complexities and securing EU agreement on how best to deal with the country remains an uphill struggle.
This duality in EU policy-making also means that although Islamabad and the EU signed a cooperation pact in the 1970s and Europe remains by far the largest market for Pakistani exports, relations between the two sides continue to blow hot and cold.
With no firm EU guidelines or well-planned strategy to rely on, Europe's policies towards Pakistan have mostly reflected the ups and downs of democracy in the country, its often-turbulent relations with neighbours and the changing global and regional environment.
Relations took a dive after Gen Musharraf's coup in 1999 but were back up again only two years later as EU governments hastened to reward an anti-terror coalition partner which, despite domestic risks, made a strong commitment to fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. EU governments agreed in the autumn of 2001 to upgrade political relations with Pakistan, signed a new cooperation pact and quickly granted Islamabad millions of euros worth of trade concessions and financial aid.
President Musharraf's Jan 12, 2002, landmark speech with its clear message that Pakistan would not be turned into a theocratic state in the name of misled Islamic doctrine, was welcomed by all European governments. By April of the same year, however, EU policy-makers watched in alarm as Gen Musharraf organized a controversial referendum to ensure he stayed on as president.