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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

NATO invites Pakistan to Chicago summit

ISLAMABAD: Following the foreign minister hinting over reopening of route for coalition forces in Afghanistan, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday formally invited President Asif Ali Zardari to the crucial NATO summit being held in Chicago on May 20-21 on the future of Afghanistan. Spokesperson to the president, Farhatullah Babar, said the invitation by the NATO secretary general was unconditional and not linked to the opening of ground lines of communication for NATO or to any other issue. The Presidency said Rasmussen telephoned Zardari on Tuesday afternoon and invited the president to the summit. The president told Rasmussen that he would consider the invitation in light of guidelines of parliament and advice of the government, Babar added. “The president said that a decision on the invitation will be communicated to NATO later.” Official sources said that soon after the telephone call, the Foreign Ministry was informed about the fresh development pertaining to the invitation. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked to advise the government in this connection.” A spokesman for the Foreign Office, Moazzam Khan, declined to go into details over the issue but confirmed to Daily Times that NATO had extended formal and unconditional invitation to the president. Meanwhile, Defence Committee of the Cabinet welcomed the invitation and endorsed the president’s participation in the summit. i hussain

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

 

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