Zardari off to US for Chicago summit

President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday left for Chicago to attend the 25th NATO Summit being held on May 20-21. President Zardari is visiting Chicago at the invitation of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said Foreign Office spokesman in a statement.

He said the decision to attend the summit was made after both the Defence Committee of Cabinet and Federal Cabinet had endorsed the invitation. The spokesman said in Chicago, the President would address the expanded ISAF meeting of NATO.

He will also meet various heads of State and governments at the NATO Summit. The President is accompanied by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Foreign Secretary while Pakistan's Ambassador to US Sherry Rehman will join the Presidential delegation in Chicago.

On Thursday, the White House said President Barack Obama has no plans to hold a bilateral meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of the Nato Summit in Chicago, but he will ‘see him’ during the conference deliberations.

Specifically asked whether President Obama will have talks with the Pakistani leader, White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said that 61 heads of state/government will be attending the two-day summit on Afghanistan and there were no plans for any bilateral meetings.

Donilon pointed out President Zardari was invited to the Nato Summit, which opens in Chicago on Saturday, by Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. But he said the president will definitely have an interaction with President Zardari during the course of the session.

About the current US-Pakistan talks, Donilon said, “We have made real progress, I think, towards resolving the issue around opening of the ground supply lines, which have been closed since a November cross-border incident in 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed.”

He said the negotiators on both sides were under instructions of their respective governments to try and come to an agreement. “When that will be done, in the next few days or not, I can’t judge at this point. But both sides should reach a conclusion on this, going forward. That is important for us.”