Deprecated: mysql_connect(): The mysql extension is deprecated and will be removed in the future: use mysqli or PDO instead in /home/lakshmi87/public_html/india/news-times/tmsconnws.php on line 3
India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features - Search News

Humiliated Zardari set to return empty handed as adamant Obama refuses to meet

      The deal to reopen the NATO supply lines through Pakistan to Afghanistan fell apart after U.S. President Barack Obama remained at loggerheads with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, refusing even to meet with him without an agreement on the supply routes. Zardari, who flew to Chicago for a two-day NATO summit with hopes of meeting with Obama, is prepared to leave empty-handed, reports the New York Times. Pakistan had closed the NATO routes into Afghanistan after an U.S. air raid last November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, for which Obama has offered condolences but no apology. "This breakdown in the U.S. and Pakistan relationship has come down to a fixation of this apology issue," said Vali Nasr, a former State Department adviser on Pakistan . The combination of no apology and no meeting, Nasr added, "will send a powerfully humiliating message back to Pakistan ." U.S. and Pakistani officials expressed optimism last week that an agreement on reopening of supply routes was imminent. It was hoped that an invitation for Pakistan to attend the summit would help in bridging the gap between the two sides, states the paper. The failure to strike a deal on the supply routes ahead of the summit injects new tension into the relationship. "When NATO extended the invitation, we thought it would move the Pakistanis off the dime," a senior American official said. Without the deal, "it's going to be really uncomfortable" for Mr. Zardari at the summit, which will end on Monday, he added. American officials said the main sticking point was the amount NATO would pay for each truck carrying supplies from Karachi to the Afghan border. Before the closing, the payment per truck was about 250 dollars. Pakistan is now asking for "upward of 5,000 dollars" for each truck, the official said.

Custom Search



Home    Contact Us
NOTE:
 Free contributions of articles and reports may be sent to indianewstimes@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER
All Rights Reserved © indiatraveltimes.com