Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday left for the United States in a last ditch effort to convince the Obama administration for softening conditions attached by the US Congress with the recently passed Kerry-Lugar Bill under which Pakistan would get 1.5 billion dollars assistance annually.
Talking to the media at the Benazir International Airport, Islamabad, the Foreign Minister said he would speak for the people of Pakistan and would convey their thoughts and feelings to the US administration on Kerry-Lugar Bill. He said he would represent Pakistan and country's sovereignty and integrity would be protected at any cost.
To a question, he said he had been mandated to carry forward the message from "all the stakeholders" to the US authorities. He further said it was decided at a high-level meeting held at the President House on Saturday and attended by the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief of Army Staff, and the DG ISI.
It is worth mentioning here that Qureshi's departure was unscheduled, as he was called back to Islamabad by Prime Minister Gilani on Friday by cutting short his visit to the US amid controversy after the reservations expressed by the Army and politicians over certain conditions in the Kerry-Lugar Bill.