National Assembly Speaker Dr Fahmida Mirza has said that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with the United States and both the countries share views and perceptions on regional and global issues. The Speaker was talking to three-member US congressional delegation headed by Adam Schiff, which called on her in Parliament House on Monday.
The Speaker said the democracy in Pakistan was restored after prolonged struggle and sacrifices and it needed to be strengthened through the support of democratic countries like USA, according to a press release. She expressed her gratitude for the US support for smooth transition to democracy in Pakistan. She said the people of Pakistan have voted for progressive parties in the country and were expecting much from their Parliament.
Fahmida Mirza said the Parliament was committed to come up to the expectations of the people. She stressed the need for enhanced interaction between the parliamentarians of both the countries for sharing and learning from the experiences of each other.
The Speaker said terrorism and extremism were common enemies of humanity and can be purged through eliminating its root causes. She said that the biggest challenges confronting to Pakistan were poverty alleviation, unemployment, illiteracy and energy crisis and Pakistan needed US support in these areas besides its support in the fight against terrorism.
She stressed that US should establish relations with the people's representatives besides establishing people-to-people contacts. The head of the delegation Adam Schiff said the US was interested to develop multi-faceted long-term relations with Pakistan. He said the US wanted Pakistan to be strong democratic country and was ready to support Pakistan in this regard.