Gen to end tour with Beijing visit

In return, long-time ally Beijing may seek reassurances of his government’s loyalty despite leaning closer to the US and the West in the war on terror after the September 11 attacks.

‘‘China was not too happy with the way Pakistan dived into the war against terrorism. It’s not that they disagreed with it, but that they were not fully consulted,’’ said Samina Yasmeen, an expert on international politics at the University of Western Australia.

He will come to Beijing with key votes of confidence from abroad in his pocket. He will have just wrapped up visits to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that were officially concerned with trade, but he was expected to rally support for his position.

Professor Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Tsinghua University here, said Musharraf would want to solidify those gains. ‘‘Pakistan hopes China will increase its support and could be hoping China’s military aid will increase, too,’’ Yan said.

‘‘I think this trip is to update China on his bilateral talks, Pakistan’s latest policies and, with Pakistan’s imminent election, he’s probably looking for China’s support domestically,’’ said Sun Shihai, a South Asia specialist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His stopover in Beijing will take him thousands of kilometres out of his way, but it will send a signal to sceptics at home and abroad that Pakistan is as close as ever to China. Musharraf’s close relationship with China is reflected in the fact that he arrives when China’s senior leaders are preoccupied with domestic affairs and a pending leadership transition, one political analyst said. (Reuters)