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Friday, July 02, 2010
Domestic opinion vital in Pak-UK ties, says Hague
LONDON: British Foreign Secretary William Hague, while outlining the UK’s plans for a “focused and effective” foreign policy, said that in Britain’s relations with Pakistan “they would have to understand that domestic opinion in Pakistan and British Pakistani diaspora matter”.
Speaking at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Thursday, he explained how he intends to deliver a UK foreign policy that will extend his country’s global reach and influence.
Speaking of his last week’s visit to Pakistan, he said that relative poverty in countries like Pakistan “does not preclude accession to information from numerous sources or stifle interest in the wider world”.
“Half of Pakistanis are under the age of 20 and a 100 million have mobile phones. The average person has his or her own opinion on developments in Afghanistan, the rights and wrongs of the Middle East peace process as they see them and an impression of the conduct of Britain and the United States in all these arenas,” Hague said. “In our relations with Pakistan we therefore have to understand that domestic opinion in Pakistan and the British Pakistani diaspora matter... the impact of our expenditure on aid, counter-radicalisation and counter-terrorism in Pakistan may well be undercut unless we are creating a positive impression of Britain at the same time,” he added.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk