In a bid to lower the escalating tensions between Pakistan and the United States, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman arrives tomorrow (Monday) on a two-day visit during which he will meet Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders to discuss ways to normalise the strained bilateral ties.
During his visit Ambassador Grossman will also participate in the Fourth Trilateral Meeting of the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan, which will be held on Tuesday. He will also hold crucial talks with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on the same day.
Grossman is arriving in Islamabad at a time when tension between Islamabad and Washington has escalated with Pakistan’s foreign ministry coming up with restrictions on the movement of American diplomats living in the country and the Obama administration pondering over a retaliatory move of doing the same to Washington’s based Pakistani diplomats.
The restrictions imposed on American diplomats is seen in diplomatic circles as a latest sign of the breakdown in ties between Islamabad and Washington since the May 2 US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad. A diplomat requesting anonymity said the US envoy would have to extend firm assurance to Pakistani authorities that an anti-Pakistan ‘slander campaign’ would be stopped and Washington will start treating Islamabad as a respectable ally.