President of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP), Asif Ali Zardari and party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will discuss Washington-Islamabad relations with US senators, congressmen and other senior officials.
According to sources, both the leaders, Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari are in Dubai. Asif Zardari is scheduled to stay in Dubai for a day or two to undergo medical examination and is tentatively scheduled to leave for the US on Jan 17 or 18 to attend the inauguration ceremony of US President-elect Donald Trump on Jan 20.
Zardari, sources added, will undergo another medical examination in the US and is expected to return home in the first week of February. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is scheduled to join his father in the US on Jan 25 after the PPPP's Lahore-Faisalabad rally scheduled to be held on Jan 19.
Sources further stated that the PPPP President and Chairman would also discuss Pakistan-India relations, Afghan policy and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) during meetings with the US authorities, congressmen and senators. Zardari would be accompanied by a delegation, including former Pakistan Ambassador to US Sherry Rehman, former Interior Minister Rehman Malik and other party leaders.
Sources in the PPPP told Business Recorder that Trump has invited former President Zardari to his inauguration and Zardari will also attend President Barack Obama's farewell dinner on February 2. PPPP General Secretary, Senator Farhatullah Babar told Business Recorder that he did not know whether or not Zardari and his son received an invitation to attend Trump's inauguration ceremony. He also said that he is unaware of the reasons for visiting the US at this time. Babar revealed that members of the National Assembly Ayaz Soomro and Azra Fazal Pechuho have submitted their resignation to the party leadership and added that now it is up to the party president and chairman to decide about appropriate time to come into the Parliament after contesting the by-elections.