The row between the US and Pakistan over the secret US operation to kill Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad is most likely to derail the two important visits by President Asif Ali Zardari to Washington, which was expected in June this year, and his American counterpart, Barack Obama to Islamabad tentatively scheduled to take place after that.
“The American authorities are most likely to put off the current year’s visit of President Obama to Islamabad at least for some months now, until the relations between the two nations are back to normal some time in the future, whereas the equally important trip of President Zardari to Washington, which was being planned for June this year is also facing certain derailment,” a Pakistani diplomat said on Saturday.
He said apart from some media reports from Washington suggesting a long delay in President Obama’s trip to Pakistan, there were clear indications through diplomatic channels that the visit would postponed and that too for long.
“The bin Laden episode have further dented the already strained ties between Islamabad and Washington owing to their previous row over the CIA operative Raymond Davis, who killed two Pakistanis in January this year and hence there were no chances of any high-level visits to both countries including that of President Zardari,” he said.
He said it would be a major diplomatic set back for Pakistan that was already facing serious problems at almost all levels, be it was political crisis, economic problems or serious security matters. A foreign news wire service report earlier also hinted at the derailment of President Obama’s much awaited visit to Pakistan.
“President Barack Obama’s promised trip to Pakistan this year, once seen as a reward for a key ally in the fight against terrorism, is now a looming headache for the White House as it tries to determine whether the government in Islamabad was complicit in allowing Osama bin Laden to live for years within the country’s borders,” the report said.
“Obama told Pakistani officials in the fall that he planned to travel there in 2011, in part to soothe concerns that the president was favouring Pakistan’s neighbour and archrival, India, by visiting there first,” it said.
A Pakistani security official said tensions between Islamabad and Washington were rising with the passage of time. “There has been renewed American pressure on Pakistan urging its south Asian ally to launch North Waziristan operation without any further delay,” he said.
