President Asif Ali Zardari has voiced his firm belief that Pakistan would be up to the task of rooting out violent extremism with the help of international support. "I can assure the world on behalf of the people of Pakistan that we are up to the task. Just help us. Get us the capability and we can defeat these common enemies for a better tomorrow for our children and the coming generations," he said on Thursday.
President Zardari was speaking to a gathering at a lunch hosted in his honour by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington Husain Haqqani and his wife MNA Farahnaz Isphahani at the Pakistani embassy. The lunch was attended by a number of high-profile US administration officials and lawmakers. The Pakistani leader applauded the trilateral consultations hosted by President Barack Obama, saying the summit meetings would help plug the missing link of co-ordination in the fight against militancy in Pakistan-Afghanistan region.
"How differently were we facing the situation (in the past) when the three major partners were not co-ordinating. So the first step has been taken. At least we are coordinating from now. It took us ten years to get to this basic element that united we stand and divide we all fall. But better late than never," he remarked, referring to the years since 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Zardari informed the gathering that terrorism has inflicted a huge suffering on the Pakistanis and exacted a high economic cost. "Democracy is the cure to the problem of violent extremism besetting the region" he emphasised. "It is a regional problem, it is not an Afghan-initiated problem, it is not Pakistan-specific problem, it does not evolve in Wana, It's a new war, the war of the 21st century."
Zardari said Shaheed prime minister Benazir Bhutto had warned President Bush senior in 1989 that "we had all created a monster and it will come back to bite us." "It bit us all economically. It bit me personally. It has bit Pakistan. It has bit a lot of people personally. A lot of people have felt this pain."
"Can we defeat this menace? Yes. Let me assure all, together we can but individually I cannot. It is not an easy job to do." Zardari said he has taken this message around the world and started the 'Friends of Democratic Pakistan Forum' to bring the strength that the country needs to meet the challenge.
Meeting the challenge will require a long struggle, he added. "At the same time, it needs development. It needs Pakistan to be strong itself. Pakistan needs to stand on its feet in order to make sure that our children are not misguided out of hopelessness." Zardari pointed out.