Blair to focus on reducing tensions

British Prime Minister Tony Blair will visit Islamabad January 7-8 during his regional tour, which is expected to focus on defusing the current high tension between Pakistan and India, officials said yesterday.

Blair will meet Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who is due to leave for Beijing on Thursday en route to Nepal for the January 4-6 South Asian summit but will return before the British leader's arrival here.

Official sources said Musharraf would stay in Beijing for a day and leave early next day by his special plane, which would be flown to Kathmandu by Chinese pilots, as Pakistani pilots are not familiar with that route.

President Musharraf will hold talks with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji during his stay in Beijing and also attend a banquet, the sources said. The explosive tension between India and Pakistan will be one of the main topics at the talks between the president and the Chinese leader, they said.

The Foreign Office also welcomed a call by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for lowering of the prevailing warlike atmosphere between Pakistan and India.

"We welcome moves by all friendly countries toward reducing the tension," a spokesman told reporters, commenting on the GCC concern. "We would like the situation to cool down and differences resolved through talks."