United States under ‘grandee invasion’ from Pakistan

WASHINGTON: The United States, already under an alien invasion with the release this week of the Steven Spielberg movie War of the Worlds, may also be bracing itself for a “grandee invasion” from Pakistan led by five federal cabinet ministers, plus State Bank Governor Ishrat Hussain.

The governor, who was here not long ago, has returned to attend a roundtable organised by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the UN in New York. Mrs Nelofar Bakhtiar, the prime minister’s adviser on women’s affairs, has also arrived to attend yet another ECOSOC roundtable relating to gender equality and related issues. State Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Tariq Azim Khan is due in Washington from 4 to 7 July. He is also planning to visit other American cities, including New York, to interact with Pakistani-Americans.

He will be followed by Senator Shahzad Waseem, Minister for State for the Interior who will be in the US capital from July 10 to 13. While he will be in town, the Pakistani embassy will receive yet another “VIP” visitor, Ms Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting. Her stay here will stretch from July 11 to 15. It is not clear what is bringing these two to Washington. The embassy has released no details. A senior official who did not wish to be named, told Daily Times, “We can’t keep count.”

Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, will have a week-long stay in Washington from July 13 to 19. No word was available on his engagements yet. His overall tour of the United States from coast to coast is to last 27 days, a record for any Pakistani cabinet minister, beating by several days one set by Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri a couple of years ago. Faisal Saleh Hayat will be accompanied by a two or three-member delegation of Azad Kashmiri leaders. Their names have not been released by the embassy. It is learnt, however, that the minister has cancelled a visit to Disneyland in Florida that was on his roster earlier. khalid hasan

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