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Bilateral talks: Zardari to meet Ahmdinejad tomorrow

Dance

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Jul 20, 2010
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ISLAMABAD:

President Asif Ali Zardari will hold a significant meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmdinejad during a day-long visit to Teheran on July 16, highly-placed sources have told The Express Tribune.

It will be Zardari’s second meeting with Ahmedinejad in Teheran in a span of three weeks. The last meeting took place when Zardari, despite serious reservations by Saudi Arabia, attended a two-day international conference against terrorism in Teheran on June 25. After meeting the Iranian president, Zardari traveled to the United Kingdom on a private trip but met UK Prime Minister David Cameron in London on July 1.

The exact purpose of President Zardari’s latest meeting could not be ascertained as surprisingly, Interior Minister Rehman Malik was given the task to arrange the meeting and not the foreign ministry. Malik will accompany Zardari on the trip.

A senior interior ministry official told The Express Tribune that the situation in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of troops by the US would be the main topic of discussion, with a focus on Washington’s ambitions to establish six military bases in Afghanistan.

However, a former Pakistani diplomat believes that Iran’s strained ties with the US and the West would dominate the Zardari-Ahmedinejad dialogue.

A visibly perturbed diplomat from a Middle Eastern country, who requested anonymity, even tried to establish the visit as a follow up of Zardari’s meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London.

The president might be playing a role in bridging the gap between Iran and UK, he said. “He might have brought a message by David Cameron for the Iranian leaders,” the diplomat added.

Bilateral talks: Zardari to meet Ahmdinejad tomorrow – The Express Tribune
 
ISLAMABAD:
The president might be playing a role in bridging the gap between Iran and UK, he said. “He might have brought a message by David Cameron for the Iranian leaders,” the diplomat added.

Bilateral talks: Zardari to meet Ahmdinejad tomorrow – The Express Tribune

What is this about UK and Iran patching up via Pakistan?! I don't think UK will befriend Iran without Uncle's consent.

Anyway, Zardari visit to Iran is very interesting development; has come out of nowhere.

The litmus test for US-Pakistan relationship is Pak-Iran relationship. The closer Pakistan gets to Iran the more it will anger Americans.
Let's see what comes out of this visit.
 
zardari being the middle man....i wonder how much commission he is getting for this private enterprise of his...
 
Zardari arrives in Iran for talks​

TEHRAN: President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Tehran on Saturday for talks with officials, state television said, less than a month after the two countries agreed to cooperate with Afghanistan to fight against militants.

His earlier visit had been to attend a counter-terrorism summit, on the sidelines of which the three countries reached an anti-militant cooperation agreement.

“After the conference and the tripartite Afghanistan-Iran-Pakistan meeting, we decided to pursue bilateral relations,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Ramin Mehmanparast, quoted on state television.

Zardari is due to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ali Khamenei in a visit aimed at “widening horizons of multi-dimensional cooperation,” Tahmina Janjua, a spokeswoman of Pakistan’s foreign office, said.

“Pakistan attaches special significance to joining efforts of immediate neighbours in an endeavour to bring peace to Afghanistan and to reversing the tide of terrorism that has afflicted the region,” she said.

Zardari’s visit, on which he was to be accompanied by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, also comes after Washington announced it was deferring $800 million in military aid to Islamabad while it sought better defence cooperation.

Zardari arrives in Iran for talks | Pakistan | DAWN.COM
 
Iran, Pakistan urge stronger ties​

TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari called on Saturday for a boost to bilateral relations, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“Iran is ready to reinforce its cooperation with Pakistan in every field,”Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

“Construction of the pipeline to export Iranian gas to Pakistan is underway, and we hope it will reach the frontier by the end of 2012,” he added of a multi-billion-dollar project.

Zardari also said relations between the neighbours should be strengthened, and urged that “trade between the two countries be conducted in local currency and not the dollar, to curb smuggling,” IRNA said.

He also denounced “efforts by our enemies who seek to show that the Pakistani government is unstable by provoking trouble,” saying that those responsible would face justice.

Zardari’s trip to Tehran comes after Washington deferred $800 million (566 million euros) in military aid to Islamabad in a bid to seek greater defence cooperation.

It also comes less than a month after Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to cooperate to fight against militants.

Zardari’s earlier visit had been to attend a counter-terrorism summit, on the sidelines of which the three countries reached the anti-militant cooperation agreement.

“After the conference and the tripartite Afghanistan-Iran-Pakistan meeting, we decided to pursue bilateral relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted on state television as saying before Saturday’s visit.

Iran, Pakistan urge stronger ties | Pakistan | DAWN.COM
 

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