Gilani pads up for India Pakistan Semi Final at Mohali

Paksitani Prime Minister Syed Yusaf Raza Gilani will visit India to watch the World Cup semi- final in Mohali on Wednesday, President Asif Ali Zardari’s aide said. Farhatullah Babar, Zardari’s spokesman, said Gilani’s visit was finalised late on Saturday after the PM met the president following his return from Uzbekistan.

Sources in the presidency said Gilani and Zardari discussed the invitation by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to both. “ Protocol suggests that Gilani should visit as the invitation has come from the Indian PM,” a source said, describing how the decision was made. They also discussed whether the visit should be kept informal or made a substantial event to take forward the process of bilateral dialogue.

“ The visit will be utilised to expedite the process of normalisation of Indo- Pak ties and as a precursor to the resumption of the composite dialogue,” the source said. The other issue discussed was whether Gilani should take a sizeable delegation with him.

“ This has been left undecided for now and will be finalised after talks between members of the federal cabinet, the ruling coalition and the Opposition parties,” the source added. “ The PM may ask some senior Opposition politicians to accompany him.” Indian government sources said they expected at least a dozenmember strong delegation with Gilani. The team may include Pakistan’s minister of state for foreign affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, foreign secretary Salman Bashir and information minister Ashiq Awan.

This could mean India may send foreign secretary Nirupama Rao with the PM to watch the match. Analysts have welcomed the developments. “ Even if the visit ends up as a symbolic gesture, I support it because it is coming after the two sides have shied away from direct bilateral visits at the highest level for many years,” Dr Hasan Askari Rizi, a political scientist based in Lahore, said.

“ Cricket being the common passion, the match should become an occasion where the two sides start seeing how much we have in common and how much we lose by stressing upon differences,” Dr Muhammad Waseem, another Lahore- based analyst, said.