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Clinton may go to Pakistan after all: Indian media

NEW DELHI: Indian newspapers said on Saturday that US President Bill Clinton may yet visit Pakistan during his trip to South Asia next month.

The speculation intensified after newspapers here quoted Clinton as having reportedly told Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto at a prayer meeting in Washington on Thursday that he would 'probably' go to Pakistan.

"Clinton edges towards Pak visit," The Asian Age said, while the Indian Express added: "Benazir gets Bill to say: I'll probably go."

The White House stated on Friday it was yet to make a decision on whether Clinton would visit Pakistan during his upcoming tour of India and Bangladesh.

"Any decision on potential travel to Pakistan will be made in the light of if the president believes a trip would further US interests in the region," White House spokesman Mike Hammer told AFP.

Clinton is to arrive in New Delhi on March 20 and remain in India for five days, before making a one-day visit to Bangladesh.

The Statesman, in a report titled "India wary of Clinton's Pak visit," said the possibility of a trip to Islamabad had put the Indian foreign ministry on tenterhooks.

The report based on discussions with unidentified officials, said the United States was "looking for signs of good behaviour from Pakistan to pave the way for a presidential visit."

But the Hindustan Times said Clinton's remarks to Bhutto showed that beneath the carefully constructed smokescreen of will-he-won't-he speculation, Washington has already made decision to include Pakistan on the President's itinerary.

"If this is indeed so, then the (Indian) government needs to rethink its attitudes."

Pakistan says if the Clinton visit does not materialise, an opportunity to promote peace and stability in the region would be lost.ÑAPP