Obama expected to tell Pak not to view India as threat

Lalit K Jha

Washington, May 5 (PTI) Concerned over the rising
Taliban insurgency in the Afghan-Pak border, US President
Barack Obama is expected to do some tough talking with his
Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari on the need to take
firm action to rein in the extremists and also tell Islamabad
to shed its "obsession" of viewing India as a "mortal threat".

Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai
arrived here to participate in the two-day trilateral summit
of US, Pakistan and Afghanistan Wednesday with the spotlight
firmly on fighting the Taliban in the region.

The trilateral summit is an initiative of Obama,
who wants to establish his own channel of direct communication
with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the prime focus
of his foreign policy.

"I think he (Obama) will reiterate what he said to you
guys last week," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said
when asked whether Obama will make it clear to Pakistan that
"there's no threat from India."

Referring to the statement made by Obama in this
regard last week, Gibbs said: "I think the President spoke
pretty clearly to this last week in underscoring where the
threat lies in Pakistan and where it doesn't."

Obama had last week said Pakistan has started to
recognise that that the "obsession" with India as the mortal
threat to it has been misguided and that its biggest threat
right now comes internally.

The crucial meeting on May 6 and 7 comes as Obama is
pledging more troops to war-torn Afghanistan and more
resources, including military aid, to the region to eliminate
what he has called an international threat.

The Obama Administration has been pressing Pakistan
that they should not view India as their main threat.

"The President is concerned about the situation (in
Pakistan). You've seen administration officials talk about
their concern," Gibbs said.

The summit assumes significance in the backdrop of
Pakistan Army launching a military operation against Taliban
in three districts of Dir, Swat and Buner in the restive NWFP
close to the border with Afghanistan after US officials raised
alarm to the extremists coming nearer to Islamabad.

"He (Obama) will spend a lot of time on Wednesday
trying to get the steps that we take moving forward right as
it relates to Pakistan and Afghanistan, to finally have a
regional approach, and ensure that the time that is spent
and the resources that are spent go toward making a difference
in this region of the world," Gibbs said.

Both Zardari and Karzai are leading a high-power
delegation from their respective countries. However, Pak Army
Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani will not accompany the
President in view of the "alarming security situation" in the
country.

Wednesday, Obama would be meeting Karzai and Zardari
separately following which the US President would head towards
the trilateral meeting with both the leaders.

After the trilateral summit at White House, the scene
would shift to the State Department wherein the delegations of
the three countries would hold detailed discussions in
separate groups in various focused areas -- foreign policy,
security, intelligence sharing, transit and finance and
agriculture.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the real
purpose of summit is to "coordinate our activities as we try
to deal with the fundamental problems that Pakistan and
Afghanistan face terrorism".

"..but the economic situation and the impact that the
global economic crisis is having on the region, to try to do
what we can to better deliver services in government to the
peoples of both countries."

Zardari and Karzai would also be going out on the
Capitol Hill to meet Congressional leaders and brief them
about the positions of their respective governments.

Prominent among the meetings include that with the
House of Representative Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican Leader
Mitch McConnell. PTI LKJ
AM
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