Islamabad, August 13: Stung by criticism of his decision to travel to Europe at a time when Pakistan is grappling with the worst floods in its history, President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to curtail an upcoming visit to Russia to only a few hours.
Zardari’s original schedule was to visit Russia two days to participate in a quadrilateral summit of heads of state of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Russia convened by the Russian government.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar today said Zardari had curtailed his visit in view of the devastating floods in the country.
The summit on regional security at Sochi in Russia was finalised several weeks ago.
In view of the natural disaster, Zardari has cut his visit short to just a few hours to only attend the summit on August 18, Babar said.
–Agencies