Zardari to visit Iran on 25th

21 June 2011 | 14:10 Code : 13952 Latest Headlines

Nation-Despite US pressure, President Asif Ali Zardari is adamant to visit Tehran to participate in the international conference on global fight against terrorism, thus rebuffing the impression that Pakistan was a client State of the United States.

‘President is all set to visit Iran on June 25th’, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told The Nation on Monday.
Among the Ministers who would accompany the President during his visit to Iran include Minister for Oil and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar. Well-placed diplomatic sources are attaching great importance to President Zardari’s visit to Iran. They were of the view that President Zardari by visiting Iran wants to show to the US and its Western allies that Pakistan is an independent State.
And this was largely because of the major shift in Pakistan’s policy towards the United States in the backdrop of recent developments that left the bilateral relations between the two so-called strategic allies in tatters.
However, sources believed that this should be done in consultation with other friendly countries including Saudi Arabia as these developments could have far reaching implications for Pakistan.
They also warned of serious fall out of President Zardari’s visit to Iran at a time when Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries were suspecting Iran for its role in the major political developments in the Gulf countries particularly in Bahrain.