News
Thursday, January 13, 2011
‘Pak pursuing reforms in its own interests’
* Ambassador Haqqani says Pakistan needs an economy that runs on its own steam, not just on periodic support injections
WASHINGTON: Pakistan will pursue economic reforms not because of the IMF or the US, but because the country itself needs economic reform, Islamabad’s Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani said in an interview.
He told Bloomberg’s Washington bureau that Islamabad was committed to economic reforms for the country’s own interests. “We are not the only country to adjust fuel prices because of public opinion,” Ambassador
Haqqani said of last week’s decision by the government to roll back energy price increase. Haqqani strongly defended the government’s economic performance in retrieving some key macro-economic indicators and the overall outlook over the last few years.
“Pakistan has to have a market economy that runs on its own steam, not just on periodic injections of support from our donors, including the IMF,” he said. “Two years ago when we entered the IMF programme, all key indicators were far worse than they are today,” Haqqani said.
The Pakistani government deserves credit from the international community for overseeing an economy that’s in better shape now than when President Asif Ali Zardari was elected in October 2008, Haqqani asserted.
On the security side, the ambassador said Pakistan itself would determine the time of operation against terrorists said to be hiding in the North Waziristan tribal area. “Only Pakistan will determine what to do and when to do it,” Haqqani said. “Putting US boots on the ground is not going to happen, and it’s not needed,” he cleared.
Pakistan now has 147,000 armed forces in tribal areas, Haqqani said, noting that the previous government, led by General Pervez Musharraf, never launched such assaults in tribal areas.
Stressing close cooperative Pakistan-US relationship, the envoy said Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Pakistan on Wednesday would be an opportunity to reaffirm the allies’ strategic partnership, and ensure that “we understand each other’s needs and objectives and that they are matched by operational capacities”.
The ambassador called Biden a very strong friend of Pakistan who had focused on building a long-term partnership.
President Zardari will be in Washington later this week to attend a memorial service for the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, who died last month. He also will meet with the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other senior officials, Haqqani said.
About the anti-terrorist drone attacks, Haqqani said Pakistan wants “our sovereignty to be respected and we certainly will stand up against civilian casualties”. Haqqani affirmed that the US had made a decision in principle to sell Pakistan unmanned, unarmed observation aircraft to provide eyes in the air in its fight against terrorists.
The ambassador said those who support extremists in Pakistan are a small minority in a nation of 180 million.
Pakistan’s military, he noted, had lost more soldiers fighting terrorists in the last two years than any other nation, and said the Obama administration should publicly give credit to its partner for its sacrifices and accomplishments. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk