Islamabad: US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca will be arriving at Islamabad on December 14 on a three-day visit for talks with the newly elected Pakistan government on various issues, including a fresh initiative to ease India-Pak tension.

This will be Rocca's fifth visit to Islamabad this year and the first after the October elections and swearing-in of the pro-military government.

During her visit Rocca would call on President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, and hold talks with the Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri.

Officials attach significance to Rocca's visit as it followed the visit of India's national security advisor Brajesh Mishra to United States this week during which he held comprehensive talks with US secretary of state, Colin Powell as well as his US counterpart, Condoleeza Rice.

Rocca's visit also followed the new chill in India-Pak relations resulting in the postponement of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) summit proposed to be held in Islamabad early next year.

The recent controversy over the alleged nuclear co-operation between Pakistan and North Korea was also expected to figure on top of the agenda during her visit.

On the domestic issues too, Rocca visit could be significant as she arrives here after fresh consultations between former premier Benazir Bhutto and the US officials to look for areas of compromise between Bhutto and Musharraf.

Their continuing confrontation, specially over Musharraf's refusal to give a safe passage for her to return from self exile as well as to compromise on his powers in order to get support of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has hampered the stability of Jamali Ministry.

The Musharraf-Bhutto confrontation has also enabled the hard-line anti-American Muthahida Majlis-e-Ammal (MMA) to consolidate its electoral gains and formed governments in sensitive Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province, which bordered Afghanistan.

In the recent weeks, the Jamali government hinted at an emerging deal with Bhutto, whose party won 81 seats in the National Assembly by releasing her jailed husband, Asif Ali Zardari on parole after a six-year detention.

Any deal between Bhutto and Musharraf could pave the way for providing stability to Jamali government, which continued to wobble with one vote majority.

PTI