Comments on: Dubai Challo: Pakistan’s New Political Center?

By: Imtiaz

Imtiaz — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:34:18 +0000

Guyz, here is the funniest news item I have read in a while. PM Yousuf Raza Gillani saying that politicians should not hold political meetings in foreign lands. Yeah, sure!

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=16240

By: Nazli

Nazli — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:23:02 +0000

I think what got lost in the comments is the more important and larger point you are making here about the big shift towards Dubai in all things, including politics. It is stable, safe, comfortable, neutral and is therefore becoming a platform for people to meet and convene for lots of things. Just like Switzerland many years ago (also now with the IRan talks) and also like Hong Kong for business.

So this is more about Dubai than just about Pakistan, I think.

By: Aqil Sajjad

Aqil Sajjad — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:16:36 +0000

Someone told me that a Geo reporter once said that there was very tight security and reporters were not allowed to go near the rooms where the meetings were held. However, just from outside the security cordon, he saw two foreigners with Zardari.
So one possible theory is that some foreigners (usually American) participate in these meetings, and Dubai or London are chosen so that the participation of these outsiders does not get widely reported.

Another theory of course is that they want to avoid being heard by Pakistani intelligence agencies. However, this is strange because how do they know they are not being bugged by some non-Pakistani intelligence agencies? If these meetings really cover something very sensative, then is it a good idea to have them outside Pakistan and run the risk of it being heard by other countries?