PAKISTAN President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's recent visit to Bangladesh was described by the host as well as the guest as "fruitful and successful". The Pakistani leader termed the outcome as "more than expected". Hopefully, the two countries will now be closer both in political and economic terms. Notwithstanding the fact that the two governments failed to resolve two vital issues - the repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh and the sharing of Bangladesh's pre-Independence assets - the tour drew significant public attention. The visit came at a crucial point in his country's politics. So far as Pakistan's internal politics is concerned, Musharraf is clearly not in a comfortable position.
Musharraf is the fourth Pakistani head of government to visit Bangladesh after 1971, when nearly three million Bengalis in former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, were butchered by Pakistan's "occupation forces" during the course of the nine month-long war of independence. Musharraf's reference to the historic developments of 1971 included his "regrets" for the "1971 events" that separated the two wings of Pakistan 32 years ago. - HAROON HABIB in Dhaka
