IN many ways, it is good that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has continued his visit to London.
It gives our Prime Minister David Cameron a chance to mend a few fences and to rebuild our relationship with a country that is extremely important to us and to the fight against terrorism.
Mr Cameron’s remarks last week that Pakistan was not doing all it might to tackle the Taliban were forthright and probably a little naïve.
And so Mr Zardari arrived in London yesterday steeled to do some “plain talking” of his own.
However, Mr Zardari should not be affronted when different countries from different parts of the world have different cultures and approaches when it comes to tackling problems.
For example, if historically huge floods had killed hundreds of people in Britain and made thousands homeless, a British Prime Minister would face a tidal wave of criticism if he jetted off on an official visit to a foreign country.
Our view would be that our nation’s leader should be at home, over-seeing the response and offering the beleagured victims support.
Mr Zardari should not be affronted that our countries have different responses to natural disasters, just as they have different views on the nature of terrorism.
Despite the backdrop to his visit, it does give our leaders the chance to learn from our differences and then to put them aside.
Both Pakistan and Britain share common objectives: we want to help alleviate the suffering caused by the flooding and we want to end the misery caused by terrorism.
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