A meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, which was delayed due to the delayed arrival of the flight of President Zardari, will now be held today (Monday). “This cancellation was due to a scheduling problem,” said NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero, on the eve of a two-day NATO summit being held in Chicago. “Mr Zardari’s plane was delayed” which meant the talks with the NATO secretary general could not go ahead as planned, she said. She added that a bilateral meeting could still be held between the two men before the summit ended on Monday. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance could not solve the problems in Afghanistan without the positive engagement of Pakistan. Speaking at a Policy Forum in Chicago before the summit‚ he said NATO was looking forward to working with Pakistan to solve the problems. He said he would discuss the matter with President Asif Zardari during his meeting with him. The president and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen are in Chicago for the alliance’s summit, which seeks international support for Afghanistan beyond 2014, when the US-led forces plan to end their combat mission in the country. President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari would hold meetings with world leaders on bilateral and regional issues, especially peace and security in Afghanistan and the region. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani are part of the delegation to assist the president during the summit.
