FM Hina likely to meet Hillary this week
18 June, 2012
ISLAMABAD: regarding apology over Salala incident, a meeting is expected to take place between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on the sidelines of Rio+20 conference in Brazil this week, official sources said on Sunday. Meetings between the two leaders cannot be ruled out as both Clinton and Khar would find an opportunity to discuss the issue and understand each other's point of view, the sources said. However, sources in the Foreign Affairs Ministry clarified that no such meeting was officially scheduled so far. When asked whether they are not going to meet this week, they said, "We never said that a meeting between them is ruled out but what we know is that no such meeting is scheduled officially." According to the US State Department, Clinton will lead a delegation of officials to the United Nations sustainability conference in Rio de Janeiro from June 20-22. While officials of the Prime Minister's House said that after cancellation of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's visit, Khar and Minister for Climate Change Rana Muhammad Farooq will represent Pakistan at the conference. Analysts maintain that it is a crucial time when the two leaders would be in Brazil though for a different reason but they would try to hold a meeting on bilateral issues and most important, reopening of the NATO supply route. When asked for his version over the possible meeting between the two leaders, US embassy's spokesman Robert Raines said that he had no official notification of the meeting. End.
|
