‘President, Prime Minister’s working relations improved

Muhammad Saleh Zaafir

ISLAMABAD: Working relationship between President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has improved, and the P M will see him of at Chaklala Air Base early in the morning today (Thursday) for his six-days visit to China.
On Wednesday, the prime minister called on the president at the Presidential Palace formally for the first time ever since taking over the office. They had useful exchange of views on subjects of mutual interest and national importance. The atmosphere in the meeting has been described as very pleasant.
Diplomatic sources told The News that president and PM meeting is a tradition before any of the two leaves for a foreign trip, while the protocol book mandates the prime minister presence at the airport when the president leaves for a trip abroad. Since the trip of the president is a state visit, three services chiefs are also required to be present at the airport. The president reportedly took the prime minister into confidence about the issues expected to come up for deliberations in China. The president is embarking upon his first foreign trip since the new democratic government has been put in place.
It is the first visit by the president when he is taking with him a small entourage of 33 persons, including his own staff, to China. The visit to China by a head of state from Pakistan takes place with great fanfare, and it is rarely seen that the entourage is less than one hundred persons. The President will be proceeding straight to China’s southern most island province Hainan’s capital Sanya where he will have formal talks with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, who has invited him for the visit. He will attend the Boao Forum for Asia to be held in Sanya.
The political observers are of the view that the relationship between the president and PPP nominated prime minister are improving with every passing day, and the working relationship is converting into affability. “It is not sudden development but it is the result of a recent highest level contacts between the two parties and their interlocutor in a Muslim brotherly country where the two sides have reassured each other to standby the commitments made earlier by the all.”