Brown snubbed by Zardari

[ajpirzada]

KARACHI (updated on: April 27, 2009, 21:26 PST): A top British daily on Monday claimed that Prime Minister Gordon Brown received an apparent snub as he arrived in Pakistan for talks with President Asif Zardari only to be told that 'he was not available to appear at a joint press conference.'

The Prime Minister, who landed in Pakistan Monday afternoon after talks in Afghanistan, told reporters on the plane that he would hold a meeting with the President, The Times said.

“But instead of a joint press conference with Zardari in Islamabad, Brown appeared alongside the relatively junior Pakistani Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani,’ according to the newspaper.

Downing Street tried to play down reports that the President had cancelled the press conference at the last minute as a snub to Brown, the newspaper said.

However, the newspaper pointed out, on his last visit to Pakistan in December, Brown and Zardari did stage a joint press conference.
Brown snubbed by Zardari : Business Recorder | LATEST NEWS

 

[ajpirzada]

Pakistan president pulls out of press conference with Gordon BrownAsif Ali
Zardari's 'snub' comes after Islamabad chided British officials for overly hasty conduct following the arrest of 11 Pakistani students in Britain a fortnight ago
Allegra Stratton in Islamabad guardian.co.uk, Monday 27 April 2009 16.01 BST Article history
Prime minister Gordon Brown meets with his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad, Pakistan. Photograph: Olivier Matthys/EPA

Deepening divisions between Pakistan and Britain were exposed today when President Asif Ali Zardari pulled out of a planned press conference with Gordon Brown.

Downing Street played down talk of a snub, insisting it was happy that the Pakistan prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, took part in the press conference instead.

"It is entirely appropriate that he has a press conference with his counterpart," a No 10 spokesman said. However, on his last visit to Pakistan in December, Brown and Zardari did stage a joint press conference.

Zardari and Brown met for a private meeting after the press conference. But his absence from the press conference comes as the Pakistanis chide British officials for overly hasty conduct after the arrest of 11 Pakistani students a fortnight ago. The Home Office refused to share any information about the arrests with Pakistan.

At the press conference, Brown defended the arrests.

"I think we have got to recognise that we have both got problems that are affecting both the security of our citizens and the sentiments in our country, with terrorist plots that have been planned and some people are trying to execute. We want to work together with Pakistan to deal with these issues and to tackle terrorism at its roots."

Brown flew into Islamabad after a whistlestop visit to Kabul and Helmand province in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani press had predicted that the prime minister would receive short shrift from Pakistani officials after the prime minister's condemnation of 11 Pakistani nationals who were arrested on terror charges in Britain.

At the time, Brown said British intelligence services had foiled a "very big plot" before all were released without charge. Senior Pakistani defence officials have said the British authorities failed to consult them adequately, and greater cooperation would have avoided "embarrassing mistakes" for the British government.

In the days after the arrest of the Pakistani students, the government maintained its criticism of Pakistan with the immigration minister, Phil Woolas, saying that the allocation of student visas to young Pakistanis – 42,000 issued between 2004 and 2008 – was the "biggest loophole in British border controls".

A memorandum of understanding had been presented to the Pakistanis under which the British government was to have the right to deport any Pakistani on the grounds that he or she had become a threat to national security without having to follow due process.

In an interview with the Guardian on Saturday, the Pakistani deputy high commissioner, Asif Durrani, said he regarded constant British briefing that Pakistan was a hot bed of terrorism to be "vindictive" and "slurs".

Today Brown repeated his assertion last made on his December visit that three-quarters of Islamic terror threats originate in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan president pulls out of press conference with Gordon Brown | Politics | guardian.co.uk

 

[ajpirzada]

it appears that we are slowly learnin to respect ourselves

 

[Xeric]

Well for the first time i kinda like this Zardari guy, i enjoyed the every word when he said Pakistani Nukes are not Kalashnikov that can be taken away by the terrorists.

And yet again he refuses appear in the conference, well i am not sure whether the West would like it or not, but this guy do have some 'attitude'!

 

[Rafael]

would have loved, had gillani too have boycotted the conference...

Imagine Brown doing a press conference with a provincial minister

 

[Bane Blade]

Well he can gain some respect back which he lost when he was all over the UN to get as much aid as he can its important that he maintains this stance and not just a one time effort.

 

[ajpirzada]

ya i have started respectin this guy after how his gov came on US team regardin blank cheques and red lines and all that. now this was also gutsy enough of him. he has also been givin due attention to balochistan issue. however he still needs to do a lot before he comes out of his shady past

 

[TOPGUN]

Zardari is so funny!

 

[Machoman]

You guys are all wrong, Zardari had a stomach flu thats why he could not attend this meeting. heheh

 

[Bane Blade]

President Zardari to start 10-day foreign tour tomorrow - GEO.tv

Updated at: 2236 PST, Monday, April 27, 2009
President Zardari to start 10-day foreign tour tomorrow ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari is likely to leave for a 10-day long tour of foreign countries on Monday.

The president will make officials and private visits to four countries comprising Dubai, Kenya, US and London.

In the first phase of his 10-day tour, President Zardari is expected to fly to Dubai from where he will head to Libya on April 30.

Zardari will also attend a trilateral meeting along with US President Barack H. Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington on May 6 and 7.

From Washington, he is scheduled to visit London on an unofficial tour.

Besides, the president will also make an official visit to Libya in the middle of May.


Lets see what happens when Zardari visits London

 

[BATMAN]

“But instead of a joint press conference with Zardari in Islamabad, Brown appeared alongside the relatively junior Pakistani Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani,’

I doubt that meeting Gillani instead of Zardari is any sort of insult!
Imagine if he goes to india and instead of manmohan they handin prabhita pate!
I'm sure media will complain on this as well.

 

[wtf]

would have loved, had gillani too have boycotted the conference...

Imagine Brown doing a press conference with a provincial minister

I don't think rules of diplomacy would have allowed Brown to hold a conference with a provincial minister. A PM and a PM can hold a conference and sometimes a PM and a president can hold a conference, but it is rare to have a PM hold a conference with a lower level minister.
UK gets away not trotting their queen out to welcome foreign presidents and US gets away hiding away their president (easier for them since they don't have a PM) , but that's pretty much the limit of stretching the rules. Most countries have a permanent senior diplomat appointed just to ensure that rules of etiquette are not broken.

 

[Zob]

well i hope this government keeps taking such steps and stronger bolder steps....i used to hate when CONDELEZA RICE used to come and meet our PRESIDENT directly its like for crying out loud guys respect our country and leadership!!!!

 

[Bane Blade]

Although PM brown met ex-PM Nawaz Sharif that is quite odd why would he do that?

N.S isn't even the president of his party at the moment and he holds no political office unless this is a blessing from UK towards him to become the next leader.

 

[Xeric]

Although PM brown met ex-PM Nawaz Sharif that is quite odd why would he do that?

N.S isn't even the president of his party at the moment and he holds no political office unless this is a blessing from UK towards him to become the next leader.

Well BB i agree with you, but i think it is also a tradition that foreign politicians like to meet the opposition and other 'strong' leader other than the sitting government holders.

This is have been happening in the past, if i am not wrong.