WASHINGTON, Sept 14: US President George Bush hopes to complete his second and final term this year with three major accomplishments—a historic nuclear deal with India and the capture or death of key Al Qaeda leaders and a relatively stable Afghanistan.

Since all these goals concern South Asia, Mr Bush has already started consulting regional leaders on his objectives.

For further talks on these two goals, President Bush has scheduled separate meetings with Indian and Afghan leaders in Washington. He meets Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sept 25 and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sept 26.

Diplomatic observers in Washington say that by setting a date for Mr Singh’s day-long visit to Washington, the White House has virtually imposed a deadline for Congress to approve the nuclear accord by then.

And President Bush’s meeting with his Afghan counterpart — according to the White House — will focus on “security, governance and reconstruction” issues.

Although Washington acknowledges that there can be no peace in Afghanistan without Pakistan’s cooperation, President Bush has only scheduled a brief, formal meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari during the UN General Assembly later this month. And he has solid reasons for that.

The question of Pakistan’s role in the war in Afghanistan is seen in the United States as a complex issue that needs more time and closer attention, so neither Washington nor Islamabad seem in a rush to hold summit-level talks on this issue.

President Bush’s meeting with President Zardari in New York will be more of a formal affair. Mr Bush will avail himself of the opportunity to congratulate Mr Zardari on his election and to assure him that sustaining a strong relationship with Pakistan is vital for the United States. Mr Zardari will return his compliments and tell him that Pakistan also wants to continue its strong partnership with the US in the war on terror. But there will be no substantial talks on any issue.

In fact, the White House has already indicated that Mr Bush wanted the next US president to decide how he wanted to deal with Pakistan.

“He (Bush) believes having established this good relationship with the Pakistani leadership, will be something the next president will be able to pick up on and move forward, because that is going to be very important,” said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.Pakistani diplomats in Washington say that they too want to wait for the US election to be over before seeking Mr Zardari’s visit to the White House.

“Before Mr Zardari returns home from the UN General Assembly, it will be October and the US presidential election is on Nov 4,” said a senior Pakistani diplomat. “So we don’t think a visit will be possible before the next administration takes over.”

But this does not mean that the United States will stop its military strikes in Fata between now and January. Nobody in Washington doubts media reports that Mr Bush has already authorised US ground forces to conduct operations inside Pakistan and that there will be more US military strikes — both air and ground — in Fata in coming days.

US terrorism experts, in interview to various media outlets, say that the Americans realise such strikes cause civilian casualties as well and stir anti-American sentiments but Washington is willing to take that risk.

US policy planners believe that the strikes will isolate the militants by forcing the local population to stay away from the areas where they hide. This will expose the militants to more precise US strikes and may also lead to the death or capture of key figures like Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri.

And if they succeed in doing so, the Bush administration can go home with the satisfaction that it was able to hunt down the perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on its soil.

Mr Bush’s other goal, the nuclear deal with India, is in its final stages. Both sides are rushing to consummate the deal before Prime Minister Singh visits Washington on Sept 25.

But problems remain.

President Bush’s recent assurance to the US Congress that fuel supply guarantees to India were political commitments and not legally binding has already alarmed the Indians.

Media reports also claim that the international waiver on nuclear trade that New Delhi won in Vienna last week was a result of a “private agreement” among the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group not to sell sensitive technology to India.

US lawmakers have their own concerns. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is chaired by Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden, has scheduled a hearing on the subject on Sept 18.

On Friday, three Congressmen issued a joint letter that opposed an expedited vote in Congress on the nuclear deal, saying that there remained lingering questions that required further examination.

The White House, however, hopes that it can overcome such hurdles by Sept 25 and President Bush and Prime Minister Singh will be able to announce their success at a joint news conference the same day.

President Bush’s meeting with his Afghan counterpart on Sept 26 will be a friendly affair. The two leaders, who last met in Egypt in May, will have the opportunity to discuss security, the expansion of the Afghan National Army, the upcoming strategic partnership talks and the implementation of political and economic reforms.

One of the subjects that may come up for discussion is the US decision to hit Al Qaeda and Taliban militants inside Pakistan. Mr Karzai has already said that he backs the new US strategy.

“A change of strategy is essential,” he said. “It means that we go to those areas which are the training bases and havens of (terrorists) and we jointly go there and remove and destroy them.”