The Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) meeting held at Istanbul, Turkey has proved successful as Pakistan achieved all its objectives especially political and strategic support from the countries. The meeting endorsed Malakand Pilot Project and agreed to extend support for rehabilitation of displaced persons and construction of infrastructure in Swat and Malakand areas, official sources told APP here on Friday.
Soon after his arrival at Istanbul, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quresh had made it clear that the meeting was not meant for mustering financial support. "The first objective of the meeting is to share the success of military operation in Swat and Malakand with the friendly countries and take them into confidence about rehabilitation and reconstruction of Swat and get it endorsed by them."
Qureshi said, the current meeting was not aimed a getting financial support adding it was not donor conference and pledges would not be made in it. When asked in the post FoDP Ministerial Meeting press conference regarding fulfilling of pledges made by FoDP countries in Tokyo, the Minister said that Pakistan has urged the friends to expedite it.
He however said that there was a time span of two years and most of the countries had informed us that they would fulfil their pledges during this period. The Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit in an interview has termed the FoDP meeting in Istanbul as successful.
"Meeting of Friends of Democratic Pakistan in Istanbul was successful and the response of friends in it was more than our expectations. The delegates in their speeches warmly supported Pakistan and we got great support for our Malakand Pilot projects." Pakistan presented its vision and strategy for the reconstruction, rehabilitation and development of Malakand division, which was appreciated and endorsed by the FoDP.
He said the FoDP meeting also appreciated the concept of public-private partnership. "We are now considering how to implement our concept of public-private partnership in the coming months so that joint ventures may start in Pakistan and foreign investment may come to in the country."
It may be mentioned here that a Business Community meeting was also held on the sideline of the FoDP Ministerial Meeting which was participated by the businessmen of the friendly countries. It was jointly hosted by the Foreign Economic Relations board, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey. Pakistan sought investments in coal, wind and hydro power projects under public and private partnership.
The Ministerial Meeting of FoDP, in its various session, was briefed by Pakistani delegates that the government of Pakistan was itself bearing the burden of a large number of internally displaced people. Pakistan has arranged $800 million from its own resources, of which US $200 million have already been spent.
A Special Support Group has also been set up to co-ordinate relief effort with the Provincial Government. He said 32 camps were established, more than 100,000 tons of food disbursed and schools and vocational centres for over 50,000 student set up while the local people extended hospitality to over 80 percent of the dislocated people.
However, the Foreign Minister, in his speech informed the meeting that rebuilding two million livelihoods and the destroyed infrastructure was a challenge the country now faced. Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the requirements of the people of Malakand have to be met urgently for which Pakistan needs quick impact projects that bring about a positive change in their lives.
About rehabilitation of displaced people in Swat and Malakand, he said Pakistan with the public support has dealt effectively with the issue of over two million displaced persons. "We are proud of our success and the courage and generosity of our people and state institutions and the efficacy of the national resolve to convert all challenges into new opportunities for advancement," he added.
The Foreign Minister also held bilateral meetings with the US Special Envoy on Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, the Foreign Ministers of UAE, Sweden and Canada. He held a separate joint meeting with Special Envoys of the United States, Britain, German, France, Japan for Pakistan and Afghanistan. Representatives of sixteen countries and two representatives of two world organisations were also present.