President Zardari likely to meet Obama in New York next month

President Asif Ali Zardari will hold a crucial meeting with his American counterpart Barack Obama next month on the sidelines of UN General Assembly (UNGA) session, for which the Pakistani president will reach New York on September 24 on a three-day visit.
The meeting between the two presidents would be the top level interaction between the two countries taking place after months owing to the prolonged tensions in relations between Islamabad and Washington that lowered a bit last month when Pakistan reopened the NATO supply routes for the transportation of goods to Afghanistan.
Pakistan had closed down the NATO supply routes in retaliation to American aircraft’s strikes on a Pakistani border posts in Mohmand Agency in November that killed 24 soldiers. It was due to the tense ties between the two key states that President Obama did not meet Zardari at a NATO summit held in Chicago in May this year. However, an apology by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month over the killing of Pakistani soldiers in the American airstrikes led to the unblocking of NATO supplies by Pakistan, after which an upswing in the relations between the two states is being witnessed. “The melting of ice between Islamabad and Washington and the thaw in relations has paved the way for the summit level meeting between the two countries next month (September) in New York when both the presidents would be there to attend the UN General Assembly session,” said a Pakistani diplomat on Tuesday, seeking anonymity.
He said it would be a crucial meeting between the two presidents and it would determine the nature of the bilateral relations in the days to come. ISI Director General Lt General Zaheer Ul Islam also made an important visit to the US early this month during which he met his counterpart in CIA David Petraeus and other senior American officials. The US officials discussed the prospects of new military offensive in North Waziristan against the powerful militant outfit, “Haqqani network”, whereas the ISI chief asked for a halt to drone strikes in the Tribal Areas and refurbishment of Pakistan’s F-16s fleet, which he said could be used as an alternative to the drone program against the terrorist hideouts. “Before the visit of President Zardari to the US, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is likely to proceed to Washington early next month to chalk out the agenda for the meeting between President Zardari and President Obama,” the diplomat said.
President Zardari likely to He said the reopening of NATO supplies by Islamabad had led to the resumption of full-fledged diplomatic ties between the two states and in coming days, US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman was also likely to visit Islamabad. Another Pakistani official said President Zardari was likely to urge his American counterpart for the resumption of stalled ‘strategic dialogue process’ between Islamabad and Washington, so that bilateral cooperation in various sectors such as defense, economy and energy could be resumed. He said, “We expect the US president to come up with a strong demand for the North Waziristan operation during his talks with President Asif Ali Zardari.” However, he refused to comment on what could be the response by President Zardari to that demand.