Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will arrive on a private visit tomorrow with a 40-member strong delegation. He is expected to touch down at Air Force Station, Palam in Delhi around 11 am. He will be received by Union Minister P K Bansal. From there he will head for the Prime Minister's 7 RCR residence for a private meeting and lunch with Manmohan Singh. Then he will fly to Ajmer for a visit to the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti. But why has the Pak President chosen this time for his India visit? He himself is calling it a private visit for religious reasons, but the greater gameplan is not hard to understand. This will be the first visit by a high profile Pakistani leader since the cricket diplomacy during last year's world cup. Bringing India into focus will help divert attention from several internal issues. But the hard stand viv-a-vis Hafiz Saeed is a reminder that Pakistan means little with this so called ice-breaking visit. Zardari merely wants to tide across domestic political difficulties. Pakistan also wants to remind India of its expectations, after granting most favoured nation status to India.
