Karachi: City nazim delivers lectures at US universities

[Naveed Yaseen]

Kamal urges US to give Pakistan access to its market

* Says Pakistan is No 1 ally of US in war on terror and needs open trade with US

By Irfan Aligi

KARACHI: City Nazim Mustafa Kamal has urged the United States to provide Pakistan access to its market in order to empower trade.

The aid money that the US administration used to give Pakistan should be replaced with options for open trade with the US.

Kamal stated this while delivering lectures at Harvard University and Columbia University. He arrived from US on Thursday evening.

According to a statement on Saturday, he said that the country could only progress when it has multidirectional routes for trade across the globe.

Kamal said that Karachi was the backbone of the country’s economy and it also caters to neighbouring countries by sending supplies to NATO, combating terrorism in Afghanistan, as up to 95 percent supplies have been sent through the Karachi port.

Kamal added that several other Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Cambodia have direct access to US markets except Pakistan, while the fact is that Pakistan has been the number one ally of US with the highest rate of sacrifices in the war against terror.

Kamal added that terrorists had designs to disconnect this vital NATO supply line, but the Muttahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain had foiled that plot and strived for creating awareness among the masses.

It was Altaf who convinced the citizens of Karachi to keep vigil on the activities of terrorists, which helped Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and other intelligence networks to grab eight different groups of terrorists within six weeks and terrorists’ designs were exterminated.

Altaf always chose people from the lower social class to represent the masses in assemblies. There were no stances of favouritism, which could be judged from the reality that Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan was not his relative.

Kamal said that MQM ensured good governance in two big cities of Pakistan, Karachi and Hyderabad and manifested through firm resolution that public issues were resolved appropriately. With the application of human intelligence, MQM has also foiled various possible acts of terrorism and maintained peace and tranquility. MQM and good governance were two sides of a picture, which was easy to judge. Salient decline in public woes could be ensured through providing the masses with pure drinking water, standard education and modern healthcare facilities.

The war against terrorism has so far claimed 2,600 lives of Pakistan Army’s officers and soldiers while more than 8,000 civilians also lost their lives. This is more than US army’s sacrifices in Afghanistan, which were 1,500.

Kamal said that he had been calling on US officials with a purpose of seeking access to US market for Pakistani products and for the improvement of its image as liberal and peaceful country. He said that hard forces, drone attacks and more troops could not ensure success in war against terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but only good governance was the key to success.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg12_2