Minister At Large, Hussain Ahmed Haqqani Tuesday said that inappropriate timing to the recent visit of US high officials to Pakistan notwithstanding it will usher good for Pak-US relations.
Talking to a private television channel Haqqani said the timing of the visit was of course inappropriate from Pakistan's domestic political perspective but it was a good development in the way that visitors have taken a strong message with them that it was in their own interest to have deep relations with Pakistan.
The ambassador said he was present during the meetings of US officials with PPPP leadership adding he had not witnessed the element of highhandedness on part of the visitors during meetings.
He said, basically they wanted to know all political actors in politically changed environment of the country, he said. Haqqani said that in the last few years the US has made major foreign policy mistakes, ie to make a policy dependent on an individual rather on institutions.
There may be some criticism on the visit of US officials but it was a good happening in the perspective that the visitors have taken a message that their relationship should be based on various instrumentalities of the government of Pakistan rather than just the goodwill and personal relationship with an individual.
He said that after the visit the US authorities have been heard saying publicly to put big weight behind democracy in Pakistan. There is a realisation that the conduct of foreign policy will have to change from being a relationship between a powerful country with a less powerful country to a relation between two democracies wherein both will have to respect the processes within each other.
For example he said the Pakistanis should take heart that the leader of the Democrats in US senate has already said that he supports giving $1.5 billion a year as civilian aid package to Pakistan which he calls a democracy dividend for next ten years.
Responding to a question relating to a recent statement of CIA Chief about the presence of high profile al Qaeda members in Pakistan's tribal areas, the Ambassador said, the US intelligence is a capable organisation and the day they come up with a street address and location of these people than they will find Pakistan fully supportive.
There are five elements involved in war on terror explaining he said, one of curse is a military dimension, there is intelligence dimensions, political component, socio-economic dimension and the last one is ideological dimension.
But the most important thing is that, Pakistan should fight a war on terror in its own sake and that should be on home made agenda he said adding "I think that will happen now with elected representatives in charge".
He said the new government would address the problem of terrorism in much better and much more effective way than it has been done in the past. "We will co-operate with others including US in solving the problems, not for using the problems as means to enhance our own political leverage at home", he said.
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