Nirupama Rao on two-day visit to Paris

Pakistan Prime Minister cuts short his planned four day trip to the country

Did Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani cut short his planned four day trip here and return home because of Indian Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao's visit?

Ms. Rao is on a two day visit to Paris for Foreign Office Consultations with her French counterpart Pierre Sellal during which she will also call on President Nicolas Sarkozy. Counter-terrorism, Afghanistan and bilateral and regional issues are expected to dominate the discussions.

India will reiterate the point it has repeatedly made in the past about Pakistan acting as a sanctuary for terrorists. Ms. Rao's arguments will have added weight because of recent events in Pakistan. She is also expected to tell French leaders that India is keen to normalise its ties with Pakistan, but will continue to seek concrete action from Islamabad against the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Ms. Rao's trip comes at a particularly embarrassing moment for Pakistan, whose army and spy services have been caught on the wrong foot. During his 36 hour stay (reduced by half without any explanations), Mr. Gilani tried hard to convince the media and the French establishment that the entire world, not just Pakistan, was to blame for the intelligence failure over Osama's hideout in Abbotabad. That he did not succeed would be an understatement. His remarks were deemed facetious and off-hand by certain editorialists, who scathingly commented on the Prime Minister's inability to confront facts squarely.

The French establishment too has been jittery about Mr. Gilani's trip, keeping it as quiet as possible. Officially, no meeting was scheduled with the French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet. But the latter did make an unscheduled call on Mr. Gilani at his hotel on Wednesday. France is keen to sell military hardware to Pakistan, but now is a very bad time indeed. In contrast to the € 450-million military hardware deal being negotiated with Pakistan, India is a much bigger and more lucrative market for France.

The French will not want to do anything to upset or anger India — especially now with the French Rafale combat aircraft making it to India's final short list of the multi-billion dollar combat fighter deal — hoping to notch up its very first sale abroad. All told, the French are hoping to sell civil nuclear technology and military hardware totalling over € 20 billion. Pakistan is hardly in the league.

“One of Pakistan's concerns is over the role India will play in Afghanistan and diplomatic efforts are being directed at convincing the NATO coalition that New Delhi's presence in Islamabad's backyard is a stumbling block to peace. Islamabad has probably struck a deal with Washington by handing over Osama, saying: you have reached your objectives, now withdraw and let us handle Afghanistan. Will the western withdrawal from Afghanistan affect the Pakistani state's attitude to terrorism and proxy outfits? That is difficult to say,” writer, journalist and commentator, Frederic Pons, said in a talk show.