President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday said that he would not ask the United States for any economic package as his visit to the United States of America was not a state visit and he was here only to represent the country at the United Nations General Assembly.
However, every world leader understood Pakistan's economic situation and saw it very sympathetically, he added. "I will not ask the US for any economic package as I am not on a state visit. My first official foreign visit will be of China," he said while addressing a press conference here at a local hotel on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
He said he had already directed the Foreign Office to prepare for his first state visit to China and it was likely some time next month. Responding to a question in the context of his meeting with President George Bush, he said that the US leader's acknowledgement of Pakistan's sovereignty is reflective of Washington's position on the issue.
"We are in constant dialogue with them and we are also talking to regional countries including Afghanistan, China and other members of the international community to take joint ownership of the anti-terror fight - we have to win hearts and minds first," Zardari stated.
"We need to revisit the situation with regard to war on terror," he added while referring to the need for redressing the sufferings of people and unrest in the affected areas and overcoming the drawbacks in the struggle through their socio-economic uplift.
Calling anti-terrorism fight a tough challenge, the President said he is endeavouring to secure international and regional support on taking forward the struggle holistically with a simultaneous thrust on political, economic and security dimensions.
"I have discussed the situation with world leaders including President Bush and we are pursuing the idea of a regional conference towards broader owning the struggle and moving forward with a much greater emphasis on battle for hearts and minds," he said.
He reaffirmed Pakistan's stance to protect its sovereignty in the fight against terror and at the same stressed that the country needs international support to give hope for better economic opportunities to the people in the remote areas. Replying to another question, he said that there were weaknesses indeed but both sides were trying to turn those weaknesses into strengths.
"They have made mistakes and we have made mistakes but we are going to revisit those mistakes and correct them," Zardari added. He said that the issue of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had not come under discussion during his one-to-one meeting with President Bush.
Zardari underscored that sustaining the struggle against violent extremism required taking people along and said he found international acceptance of Pakistan's stand in this respect.
"There is the physical (security) dimension, there is the economic side - the idea is to increase acceptance of the fight inside Pakistan and outside Pakistan - and we are striving to improve on this idea."
On unilateral strikes into Pakistani territory by US-led forces from across the Afghan border, he said definitely such actions undermine Pakistani efforts to curb extremism. "Yes, such actions weaken our position to win hearts and minds of the people. That is the moral of the story. We have to win hearts and minds first."
Regarding the initiative on holding a conference in support of Pakistan's economic development, he was confident that the event at the United Nations on September 26 would help devise a comprehensive strategy towards that end. The conference on Friday is to be attended by representatives of the world's top industrialised nations, China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Nations and the European Union.
Replying to a question he said that he would take up Chenab water and Kashmir issues during his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. "We need to do something about it," Zardari said reflecting the concerns Pakistan feels about the unannounced reduction in water flow in the Chenab River, which is violation of the Indus Water Treaty between the two countries.
Reduction in water could impact Pakistan's vital agriculture sector, he maintained. The President without elaborating said his discussions with Indian Prime Minister would encompass all issues. Talking about occupied Kashmir, he said that as far as Kashmir issue is concerned it is core issue for Pakistan and it had been raised by different Pakistani leaders at different times.
Uprising in occupied Kashmir is indigenous and situation is changing very rapidly there, he observed, adding Pakistan is providing them just moral and diplomatic support and our position is well accepted in accordance with Simla Accord.
"I think if the people of both the countries stand together, the issue of Kashmir can be resolved" However, Zardari refrained from commenting whether Pakistan's position of Kashmir was still anchored in UN resolutions. He said that people-to-people contact was necessary, adding that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani would soon sit together with other parties in the Parliament to finalise Pakistan's strategy in this regard.
World leaders did understand the economic situation of Pakistan as after congratulating him on becoming President, they also discussed Pakistan economy with him.
"I think it gives us a lot of room enabling us to restart a dialogue as the democratic government is revisiting the whole situation and insisting more and more people ie Americans, Europeans and Muslim Ummah which means that there was a good response all the sides.
He termed his meeting with Iranian President very positive as they discussed gas pipeline project in detail. "We are making it public private partnership in the financial world," he added. He said that friends of Pakistan were coming forward to help it. They can only give us economic tools and RoZs will be those kind of tools, adding that Mehsood tribe would have one industry and Khattack tribe would have the second industry. Answering a question, he said that the Parliament would decide about the fate of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Zardari said that he had great respect for Mian Nawaz Sharif and considered him elder brother but there were some hawks in his party, who did not want to see both parties united and were creating problems in this regard. These elements were not giving good advice to their leadership, he observed.