President to seek full membership of Pakistan in SCO
BEIJING: President Asif Ali Zardari would emphasise on full membership of Pakistan in Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) during the two-day meeting of the regional grouping starting from here on Wednesday.President Asif Ali Zardari arrived here on Tuesday to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit and to hold bilateral meetings with the Chinese leadership.
President Zardari was accorded a warm welcome at the Beijing Capital International Airport by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ms Fu Ying, Ambassador Masood Khan, senior diplomats from Pakistan Embassy and officials from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The two-day SCO summit will start here on Wednesday.
Pakistan has an observer status in the SCO since 2005 and has been actively participating in its various conferences and events.
President’s Spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar while talking to media about President Zardari’s Beijing visit, said that Pakistan has been actively participating in the SCO and is keen to get its full membership.
President Zardari will strongly advocate Pakistan’s desire to be a full member of the organization, he said.
Lauding the role of SCO in areas of security and economy, Senator Babar said that Pakistan can help the organization to further these objectives.
Besides, representing Pakistan in the SCO, Senator Babar said, President Zardari will hold meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the summit.
Senator Babar said that Zardari would hold meetings with Chinese leadership including President Hu Jintao and Vice-President Xi Jinping on future cooperation in entire spectrum of bilateral relations between the two countries..
This is President Zardari’s 9th visit to China, which illustrates the importance the present government accords to relationship with its trusted friend, he said.
The present visit, he said would provide a new impetus to the all weather and strategic cooperative partnership with China.
Senator Babar said that the upcoming meeting with the Chinese leaders has important significance, as after previous meeting of President Zardari four positive and important developments took place.
He said these developments were currency swap arrangements, launch of PKSAT-R1 (Satellite) last year, launching of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) branches in Pakistan and the second five-year economic cooperation programme initiated this year.
The SCO was founded in Shangahi on June 15, 2001 and currently it has six full members including China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Pakistan, Iran, India and Mongolia have observer status.
The current summit would also review applications from Afghanistan for observer status and for Turkey as dialogue partner.
India-US
defence talks to focus on Asia
NEW DELHI: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta holds talks Wednesday with
his Indian counterpart which are likely to be dominated by NATO's planned exit
from Afghanistan and China's growing power.Panetta's two-day visit to New Delhi is part of a tour of the region that has stressed Washington's strategic shift to Asia, with US officials portraying India as an anchor for the new approach.
In talks Tuesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Panetta "underscored the link India plays between East and West Asia and how the United States views India as a net provider of security from the Indian Ocean to Afghanistan and beyond", his press secretary George Little said.
Panetta will meet Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Wednesday before giving a policy speech at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
In his talks with Antony, Panetta was expected to discuss NATO's planned withdrawal of combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 as well an expanding arms trade and joint military training between the two countries.
Indian officials are worried the departure of most of the US-led force could leave a dangerous vacuum in Afghanistan, and question if the Kabul government and its fledgling army will be able to fend off Taliban insurgents.
US officials said Panetta was encouraging India to play a more active role in Afghanistan, despite Pakistan's deep suspicion of its arch-foe's motives in the country.
Earlier on his nine-day tour through Asia, Panetta unveiled plans to shift the majority of the US naval fleet to the Pacific by 2020, a symbolic step meant to signal US determination to preserve its influence in the face of a rising China.
Beijing said Monday the US naval plan was "untimely" and called on Washington to respect its interests in the region.
The tilt towards Asia is designed mainly as a way to check China's role, particularly in the contested South China Sea, reinforcing US diplomacy in support of smaller nations locked in territorial disputes with Beijing.
The US administration views India as a counterweight to China, though in public statements senior officials insist the new strategy is not meant as a challenge to Beijing.
Panetta's visit follows India's successful test launch in April of a new missile capable of delivering a one-tonne nuclear warhead anywhere in China, marking a major advance in its military capabilities.
India views the rocket, which has a range of 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles), as a boost to its regional power aspirations and one that narrows - albeit slightly - the huge gap with China's missile systems.
India is investing in military hardware to modernise its armed forces, and the United States has become one of its major arms suppliers, with $8.5 billion in sales over the past 11 years, according to the Pentagon.
Panetta's trip coincides with two weapons deals that are close to being wrapped up.
India has agreed to buy 145 howitzer guns from the US unit of British arms group BAE Systems in a deal worth $560 million. And India is close to clinching a $1.4 billion agreement to purchase 22 Apache attack helicopters manufactured by Boeing, US officials said.
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