Gilani to meet Obama hours after arrival

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani being seen off by Cabinet members before his departure to the US, at PAF Base Chaklala in Rawalpindi on April 10, 2010. - Photo by PPI.

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who arrives in the US capital on Sunday to represent Pakistan at a nuclear summit, will hold his first bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama hours after his arrival.

President Obama would have met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before meeting the Pakistani leader, enabling him to have a broader perspective on India-Pakistan relations.

India’s continued refusal to have direct political contact with Pakistan – although their foreign secretaries have met – has given Mr Obama a unique mediatory role.

Such mediation, however, is also against India’s declared policy that it wants no intermediary in its talks with Pakistan. It, however, justifies Islamabad’s stance that problems dividing the two countries were so complex that an international mediation would be helpful.

During his two-day stay in Washington, the prime minister will also have a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao who is attending the summit on a personal request from President Obama.

President Hu’s participation signals a fresh start between the superpowers amid a chill in relations over Beijing’s unhappiness with US arms sales to Taiwan and a meeting with the Dalai Lama.

The Obama administration hopes Mr Hu’s attendance also could help the United States and China coordinate a united stance in pressuring Iran and North Korea to abandon their nuclear ambitions.

Washington also hopes that this will balance out possible negative impacts on the Obama administration of Israel’s refusal to send its prime minister to the summit.

Israel says that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not coming because he fears Arab states will demand that Israel sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Mr Netanyahu is also not reassured that President Obama would not use the summit to further snub him. There have been recent cracks in the relationship between Israel and the United States, with the Obama administration insisting that Netanyahu stop illegal constructions in East Jerusalem.

There have also been reports that the United States is considering whether to offer its own peace plan for the Middle East, where talks have again been stalled.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/19-gilani-to-meet-obama-hours-after-arrival-140-hh-04