Pakistan likely to present detailed document on ties with India to Obama

Karachi: The Pakistan Government is reportedly preparing a comprehensive and detailed document on its relations with India, and the issues bedeviling the relationship, which it is likely to present to President Barack Obama.

The document is in addition to the three-volume dossier presented last week to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, reports The Nation.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will present this document along with dossiers to US President Barrack Obama at the White House on 23rd October during his visit to Washington.

According to informed sources, the meeting would be highly crucial as other issues and challenges being faced by Pakistan would be discussed as well. The other main issues are stated to be taken into stock are Pakistan’s nuclear programme and volatile situation at Pak-Afghan border and trust-deficit ties between the two countries.

Sharif has expressed confidence that his upcoming visit to the US would help further promote the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

He was chairing a meeting in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss his visit to the US.

It was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi, along with others.

According to sources, it was decided during the meeting at the PM House that Sharif will take up the matter of Indian ceasefire violations alongside the Line of Control (LoC) and working boundary with US leadership in his upcoming trip to US later this month.

The meeting focused on deliberations regarding the issues of mutual interest between Pakistan and US, said a statement issued on Thursday.

The government maintained that “US is an important partner of Pakistan in all areas especially economy, defence and counter-terrorism”.

Over the past several weeks, Pakistan has been raising the issue of violations by India along the LoC in Kashmir and the Working Boundary at the UN with top officials in the Department of Political Affairs and Peacekeeping Operations, the handout said.

It is pertinent to mention that Sharif, while addressing the UN General Assembly’s 70th session in New York on Ist October, proposed a four point agenda to diffuse tension between Pakistan and India.

“Cooperation, not confrontation, should define our relationship with India,” said Nawaz.

As a responsible nuclear weapon state, Pakistan will continue to support the objectives of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, he added. (ANI)