Zardari-Sharif meeting unlikely to evoke any positive response India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The much touted meeting between Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif is being seen as an important event which could decide the country's future political scenario, but analysts believe nothing is going to come from the summit of the two arch-rival politicians. Zardari and Sharif are scheduled to meet each other on Monday during a banquet meeting being held in the honour of visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdagon, but none of the sides have come out with any agenda for the talks. Political pundits believe that Zardari, during the meeting, would try to pacify Sharif and win his support for the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), which has already been submitted to parliament for discussion and approval. However, experts do not foresee any breakthrough as Nawaz, in return for support for the NRO, is expected to demand at least immediate repeal of the 17th Amendment, The Daily Times reports. Sharif could also demand Zardari to shun the law barring people from serving a third term as country's Prime Minister, so as to enable him to sit on the powerful chair once again. He could also ask for a cut in presidential powers including the authority to appoint armed forces' chiefs, experts believe. Considering the past experiences of broken promises and mistrust between the two parties, it is highly unlikely that the meeting would yield something positive. They feared that the failure of the meeting would once again see both the political parties indulge in confrontational politics similar to 1980s and 90s, which could then have a detrimental effect on the state's law and order situation.