President Asif Ali Zardari has denied that Pakistan is turning a blind eye to militants and vowed that it will hunt down and eliminate the terrorists. In an interview published in Strait Times, the president said Pakistan was determined to wiping out extremism.
Zardari underscored his resolve by emphasising that Pakistan has been the hardest-hit victim of the scourge with more than 35,000 persons including security forces, killed by terrorists. The president said the extremists had caused economic losses of nearly US $68 billion. He also dismissed the notion that the increasing number of terrorist attacks was the proof that country was on the brink of becoming a failed state. Instead, he said, effective law enforcement operations had put terrorists on their heels and they were launching more attacks out of desperation.
President Zardari said, "Our army is capable of defending territory and sovereignty. Apart from that, free media, independent judiciary, a dynamic civil society and an active Parliament are indicators of strengthening Pakistani institutions." In response to a question on how the United States could have handled the situation regarding Osama bin Laden better, he said, "The US should have confided with the Pakistani authorities its intentions in regard to the Osama bin Laden operation."
He added, "Pakistan-US relations should to be based on mutual interest, mutual respect and mutual trust." He said, "The US has remained a great friend, providing moral support and material assistance to Pakistan through difficult and weighty times," he said.
"Ties with the US have remained of great relevance to Pakistan and form an important component of Pakistan's foreign policy," he said, adding that Islamabad hopes Washington would focus more on the socio-economic uplift of Pakistan in coming years.
"Pakistan and the US have enjoyed close, friendly relations in the last six decades," he said. "Both sides have depth and substance in the bilateral relationship." But he acknowledged that both sides are now facing new issues and challenges for the 21st Century.
"There is a strong component of co-operation between the two governments to overcome any difference in our interaction," said Zardari. "The relationship has not suffered in the post-Osama bin Laden period. Instead, both sides have agreed to follow international norms in carrying out joint operations in the war against terrorism," he said. "Both sides need to continue to work jointly to get rid of this menace." One Afghanistan, the president said Islamabad supports efforts by the government of President Hamid Karzai to pursue peace with the Taliban. "Pakistan supports an Afghan-led process of reconciliation, and has agreed to facilitate the reconciliation process. "A Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Commission has been established for this purpose, which will be jointly led by the prime minister of Pakistan and the president of Afghanistan," he said. He said that peace in Afghanistan would ensure peace in Pakistan too.
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