Sharif wants US to be a mediator

However, it is expected that every issue related to South Asia will come up for discussion and the two leaders will issue a joint statement after their meeting, the official APP news agency said in a despatch from Washington.The Clinton administration has already extended a formal invitation to Sharif to visit Washington, the reports said.

Sharif is expected to use this opportunity to urge the US to mediate in the Kashmir dispute with India, especially keeping in mind Clinton’s recent efforts in forging an agreement between Israel and Palestine, the reports said, adding that Sharif has gone on record to say that conflictsbetween India and Pakistan have never been settled without third party mediation.Pakistani Ambassador to the US Riaz Khokhar will meet State Department officials to work out details of the Clinton-Sharif meeting while Pakistani foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmad will also visit Washington in the middle of November month to prepare the groundwork for the Prime Minister’s visit.

Ahmad has already held a series of meetings with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott on the issue of nuclear non-proliferation and signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by Islamabad in the wake of nuclear tests by both India and Pakistan in May this year.