Washington, June 13: US officials have said that US President George W Bush will discuss proposals for peacefully resolving the Kashmir issue with his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf during his forthcoming visit to the country. The President "will discuss proposals for the peaceful handling of the Kashmir" issue at his meeting with Musharraf at Camp David on June 24, the officials said.
The officials also said that they are "encouraged by India`s and Pakistan`s efforts to defuse the tensions between them," reported a leading American daily.
Besides the Indo-Pak issue, Bush plans to use the June 24 meeting with Musharraf at Camp David to work harder to prevent al-Qaeda from using his country to regroup, and to continue improving relations with India. Quoting Rajan Menon, an authority on South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, the newspaper said the primary topic of the meeting is likely to be a Bush appeal for Pakistan to clamp down on Islamic militants operating largely beyond the control of the national government in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. The US will push him to do more.
The US and Pakistan also hope to stage a preliminary trade agreement, officials said.
Pakistani officials, said the report, also expect Bush to continue discussions about US requests for troops to aid stabilization in Iraq. On inviting Musharraf to Camp David, a senior administration official said "Pakistan has been stalwart in working with US to fight terrorism, and Camp David is appropriate to the strength of the relationship."
Though some Bush aides were worried about how India would react to the Camp David visit, intelligence agencies strongly supported the Camp David treatment for Musharraf.
Musharraf will visit Washington as part of a four-nation trip that will include meetings with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac. He will also stop in Germany. Bureau Report