Hillary Clinton calls on Zardari, assures of US support for energy, water sectors

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

ISLAMABAD, Jul 18 (APP): Secretary of State Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton assured Pakistan of additional US support in addressing issues in energy, water and agriculture sectors on priority basis during the ongoing strategic dialogue. Hillary Clinton who was leading a high level US delegation on Sunday evening called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Matters relating to the strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the US, bilateral relations, regional situation, fight against militancy and mutual cooperation and assistance to Pakistan were discussed during the meeting.
Spokesperson to President Farhatullah Babar said that the President called for a focused and result oriented strategic dialogue adding that issues relating to Pakistan’s energy needs were most important and needed to be dealt with urgently.
Other subjects that came under discussion during the talks included drone attacks, post-conflict rehabilitation of the affected areas, strengthening of the law enforcing agencies and the timely reimbursement of coalition support funds arrears.
The meeting that was followed by dinner was attended among others by Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Interior Minister Rehman A. Malik, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Chairperson BISP Farzana Raja, Secretary General Salman Faruqui, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Pakistan’s Ambassador in the US Hussain Haqqani and Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar.
US Ambassador in Islamabad Ms. Anne W. Patterson and Richard C. Holbrooke and senior Embassy and State Department officials were also present during the meeting.
Hillary was also greeted by the President’s daughters Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and Aseefa Bhutto Zardari.
Welcoming Ms. Clinton on her second visit to Pakistan in less than a year, the President said that her visit as part of the strategic dialogue was a manifestation of the deepening strategic ties between the two countries.
It was reassuring that the long term political and strategic partnership of their two countries was, as it had to be, based on mutual interest, common values and shared goals, the President said.
A durable and long lasting relationship must also be based on respect for democracy and sovereignty and a joint commitment to fight the forces of extremism and militancy, he added.
Issues relating to peace and stability in the region were also discussed in the meeting. Farhatullah Babar quoted the President as saying that dialogue was the only way forward as the absence of dialogue created doubts and tensions.
He said that isolated incidents of militant acts should in no way be allowed to derail the dialogue for peace process.
The militants wanted to derail the peace process by provoking a thoughtless and knee jerk reaction to a calculated militant act, he said. “Our reaction has to be mature and not knee jerk to frustrate the designs of extremists,” the President said.
About Afghanistan the President said that Pakistan has legitimate interests in promoting peace and stability in that country. The President called upon the international community to synergize their efforts for restoration of peace, stability and prosperity of a war torn Afghanistan and said that Pakistan would support international efforts and would provide all assistance for capacity building of the Afghan institutions.
About the drone attacks on Pakistani territory, the President said that it undermined the national consensus against the war on militancy and reiterated Pakistan’s call for transfer of drone technology to it for use by its own security forces against the militants for wider public acceptability.
The President also called for timely payments of Coalition Support Fund and said that piling up of arrears hampered the fight against militancy.
The Spokesperson quoted the President as saying that Pakistan welcomed US declarations of support to democracy in Pakistan and the country’s security and stability and economic development and emphasized that the continued support must be based on mutual respect and trust.
President Asif Ali Zardari said that the democracies of the world can help speed up the process of healing and development by helping democracy in Pakistan and rendering assistance in critical areas of social and economic development.
The area that needs urgent attention and immediate support is that of meeting the energy needs of the country, he said.
The President said that the Government of Pakistan People’s Party has a clear vision and strategy.
“We are keen to meet the energy challenge head on and pursue policies of public-private partnership to promote investment and production to create jobs and wean away the frustrated youth from resorting to extremism,” the President said. Social integration through reforms and poverty alleviation is the top most priority of the Government, he added.
The President said that Pakistan needed assistance in stabilizing its economy through investment promotion, overcoming the energy crisis, facilitation in getting market access, capacity building of civilian institutions and investment in education and social sector as measures for long term fight against the militant mindset. He also urged for the speedy delivery of equipment to fight insurgency.
Placing the issue of militancy in its perspective the President said that decades ago the international community chose to fight the rival ideology by creating non-state actors and employing them in the battle ground.
After defeating the rival ideology the international community abandoned the region and the non state actors it had nurtured and who had now turned around to haunt the region and the world, the President remarked.
He said that this situation inevitably led Pakistan to become a security driven state neglecting the people and their uplift. The international community now owed it to Pakistan and to itself to help rebuild the country economically and socially, he said.
Farhatullah Babar said that the President called for pursuing a well structured economic development agenda in Pakistan.
The central points of this agenda are energy development and access to Pakistani goods in the U.S. and European markets the President said and called for early legislation in the US on Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (RoZs).
The President said that Pakistan had suffered a huge loss of over 40 billion dollars during the last eight years as a result of the fight against militancy besides unquantifiable cost in terms of social and human losses and urged early fulfillment of the pledges made at the Friends of Democratic Pakistan forum.
President Asif Ali Zardari said that militancy and terrorism was the common enemy and that the existing cooperation between the two countries must continue to fight the menace.
He said that defeating the extremists on ground was one part of the battle and that complete success required that they changed the militant mindset through creation and provision of opportunities to the people.
He said that both the countries need to cooperate in order to give local people hope through creation of jobs and other economic opportunities.
US Secretary of State Ms. Clinton thanked the President for the warm welcome extended to her during her visit. She appreciated the efforts being made by Pakistan for economic stability and poverty alleviation.
Saying that the Administration was conscious of the need for creating economic opportunity for the Pakistani people in their fight against militancy she reiterated US commitment to support the people of Pakistan to strengthening of democratic institutions for promoting stability and investment in energy, education and social sector.
She expressed determination to strengthen the ties between the two countries in all areas particularly in areas of energy, water, agriculture and trade development.