President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday said that militancy and terrorism were the common enemy of Pakistan and USA and that the existing co-operation between the US and Pakistan must continue to fight the menace.
"Pakistan values a long-term, multifaceted and durable relationship with the United States and that no isolated incident should be able to adversely impact this relationship," the President said during a meeting with US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke who called on him at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Ambassador Holbrooke was accompanied by Cameron P. Munter, US ambassador in Pakistan and other senior US officials and staff of the ambassador. From Pakistan side those who were present in the meeting included Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Foreign Minster, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Federal Minister for Finance, M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, Senator Syeda Sughra Imam, Malik Asif Hayat, Secretary to the President, Salman Bashir, Foreign Secretary, Salman Siddique, Secretary Finance and other senior officials.
Bilateral relations, regional situation, the US Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, fight against militancy, rehabilitation of floods affected people and the meeting of Pakistan Development Forum were discussed in the meeting. The President said that Pakistan has paid a heavy price in terms of both human and material losses in fighting militancy and that it looked forward to international assistance in meeting the challenges faced by it. He said that Pakistan needed trade and market access for its products in order to set its economy on the path of stability and prosperity.
He further said that defeating the extremists on ground was one part of the battle and that complete success was required to change the militants' 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.
Discussing regional issues, the President said that Pakistan is committed to the peace and stability of the region and would welcome efforts for restoring peace and stability in Afghanistan. The President while referring to various measures taken by the government for the rehabilitation of floods affected people said that the government has appointed oversight council comprising members of impeccable integrity to ensure transparent and effective utilisation of relief assistance.
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