Islamabad, July 4: Pakistan People’s Party cochairman Asif Ali Zardari is likely to meet PML(N) chief Nawaz Sharif in London to remove "misunderstandings" that have affected relations between the two major partners of Pakistan’s ruling coalition.
Mr Sharif, who travelled to London on Thursday to be with his wife who is recuperating after surgery, has complained that the PPP-led government did not take the PML(N) into confidence before launching an operation against militants in the restive northwestern tribal belt of the country.
Mr Zardari has reached Dubai after visiting Turkey and Greece and will travel to London in a day or two, PPP sources said.
Mr Zardari is likely to meet Mr Sharif to resolve misunderstandings between the two parties to ensure smooth functioning of the coalition governments at the centre and in Punjab province, they said.
PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told the Daily Times newspaper that Mr Zardari might travel to London after completing his visit to Dubai.
"The cochairman is currently in Dubai but I am not aware of the details of his full itinerary. I have learnt that he might visit London. If he does, he may meet Nawaz Sharif," Mr Babar said.
Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif are also likely to discuss the touchy issues of reinstating the judges sacked during last year’s emergency and the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf during their meeting.
Mr Sharif has expressed reservations over security forces’ operation in Pakistan’s tribal areas, saying the PML(N) was not taken into confidence over the crackdown and on the recent decision to increase prices of gas and petroleum products. Paramilitary forces launched an operation in the semi-autonomous Khyber Agency last week to prevent militants from gaining a foothold in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province.
Mr Sharif also said on Thursday he was "dismayed and disappointed" that the judges deposed by President Musharraf are yet to be reinstated despite a commitment made by Mr Zardari when the PML(N) and PPP came together to form a coalition.
Ministers of the PML(N) quit the federal Cabinet on May 13 after the government failed to meet two self-imposed deadlines for restoring the judges.
The party has said it will not rejoin the Cabinet until the judges are reinstated.
—PTI
