Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will visit Washington from February 23 to 26 to attend an important meeting with US high officials to formulate new policy vis-à-vis war on terror with special reference to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The foreign minister would lead his team and hold meetings with his counterpart Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke and Co-Chair of the Policy Review panel Bruce Riedel. He will also meet National Security Advisor General (Retd) James Jones and other senior members of the Obama Administration.
The Foreign Minister will be heading an inter-agency delegation which has been constituted to hold discussions with the Obama Administration on its policy review aimed at formulating fresh approaches to the problems and challenges the region is facing. The invitation to Pakistan was given by the US President's special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke who visited Pakistan, Afghanistan and India in the first week of the current month to observe the situation in the region directly hit by the mounting militancy and terrorism.
Pakistan team would share its experiences as a frontline state against war on terror and would recommend change in the US policy. Pakistan has suffered a lot due to its role in the war as a frontline state and is in favour of developing a multi-pronged strategy as far as the defeat to militancy and terrorism is concerned. Pakistan has made it clear to the US administration that only use of force is not the sole solution to win the much costly war, which was initiated by the unipolar superpower soon after attack on the WTC on 9/11.
Independent analysts are of the opinion that Pakistani delegation has to counter a number of fresh questions on the new government's deal with Taliban in Swat as Richard Holbrooke has openly opposed the new development, labelling them as the same elements who attacked WTC on 9/11 and Mumbai in the recent past. The US administration and Nato opined that such a move would further strengthen the terrorist elements to implement their own agenda.