A recent British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) commentary, cast doubt and controversy on the Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s U.S. visit when it asked: Did Aziz visit Washington as per his desire and earlier schedule, or was he summoned by President Bush?

The BBC’s question came in the wake of several notable statements made by Aziz during his stay in the United States. His statements are full of contradictions and deserve some scrutiny by political commentators and analysts.

Also notable and worth consideration is the fact that several top Pakistani diplomats visited the United States in the past few days, and now many international figures are visiting Pakistan. On March 3, the president of the world’s strongest democracy and the lone superpower, President George W. Bush will visit Pakistan. Similar to his predecessors, Bush will make a three-day visit to India before going to Pakistan.

The U.S.-India friendship has long been described as the result of natural bonds. Conversely, the U.S.-Pakistan friendship has always been dubbed a “marriage of convenience” that takes shape according to the changing times. As well, India has long been considered a strategic partner by the United States, boosting their mutual friendship while, in the case of the U.S.-Pakistan friendship is seen as a friendship between the two governments and that it is limited to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

While talking about respect, let’s not forget that the respectable and distinguished members of Aziz’s entourage in the recently concluded U.S. visit were searched at a New York airport, and thus accorded the highest level of “respect.” It all happened when Aziz boarded the special plane for his Washington D.C. journey. The entire staff and top officials of his entourage were minutely searched. A local television channel removed the lid from this episode by running a film of these searches. The film shows Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, the 80 year-old special advisor to Aziz, being searched twice, removing his cap many times by the security officials. He was then asked to remove all metal objects from his pockets and a security official asked him to raise his arms. Then he was searched through a metal detector. On this occasion, the other senior members of the Pakistani delegation, including the country’s Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and several others watched with crossed hands. The local television channel, in its commentary, said the Pakistani delegation was searched as if they were suspects.

This episode must have reassured, at least, the common folks in Pakistan that U.S. security officials treat every one equally, irrespective of their status. The U.S. security officials treat the Pakistani VIPs the same way as the treat the common folks. While playing down the incident as a “normal security procedure,” Pakistan Interior Minister said that Pakistan government did not intend to raise the issue in Washington in its effort to save the significance of the visit and to avoid vitiating the atmosphere.

Whether Aziz was “summoned” to Washington or he was “seeking answers” from the Bush administration for attack on Pakistani territory in Bajaur was obvious from the smiling pictures of Bush and Aziz at the end of their meeting at the White House, in which Bush did not mention anything about the Bajaur incident. Although some journalists pressed the bombing issue, none of the leaders commented. They kept themselves limited to the usual niceties like: whether the U.S.-Pakistan friendship is on track; whether Pakistan-India talks are going well; whether Pakistan is averse to proliferation of conventional and nuclear weapons in the region; whether Pakistan and the U.S. will continue their cooperation in the war on terror. Kashmir was also discussed in context of regional peace. Pakistan thanked the U.S. for its help in the earthquake relief, as well as private sector investment. Also significant was the fact that the Prime Minister did not divulge many details about his meeting with Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

How did Aziz like the U.S. visit or what did Pakistan get out of this visit? Pakistan’s Prime Minister and the U.S. foreign office will have us believe that it was a successful trip, which will help strengthen relations between the two countries. What will the poor people of Pakistan get out of this visit? Mere statements? But these statements cannot feed them. You may guide me by writing to me at pakustravel@hotmail.com