News
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Pakistan committed to regional stability: Hillary
* US secretary of state says Islamabad has strengthened resolve against terrorism since last two years
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Pakistan was “very serious” about fighting terrorism and contributing to regional stability as she stressed that Islamabad and Washington were beginning to close the trust deficit and build greater mutual confidence.
“I strongly feel that the Pakistani government has become very serious about fighting terrorism within their own borders and working with Afghanistan and the US to try to stabilise the region,” she said in an interview when asked about her confidence in Pakistan’s anti-terror commitment. The chief US diplomat told the CBS channel in the interview recorded during her visit to Islamabad this week, that Pakistan had strengthened its resolve against terrorism over the last two years. “When I became the secretary of state, that wasn’t happening, there was not the extraordinary commitment of the military assets against different terrorist groups that we see now. The Pakistani government has reached its own conclusion that there is a syndicate of terror and some of it is directly aimed at undermining the state here.”
“We had a very broad discussion about Afghanistan, what the best ways to secure peace and stability in Afghanistan. We talked about the recent dialogue between India and Pakistan and got their views on that. It was a really broad, comprehensive discussion,” Clinton told travelling journalists of her meetings in Islamabad at the conclusion of her visit. In the interview with CBS, Clinton said the “horrific attacks” on religious shrines and mosques and markets and so many places in Pakistan where people were just going about their daily lives, illustrated the approach that these terrorist groups were taking. The terrorists’ approach was very much directed against Pakistan, she noted.
“So Pakistan has responded and is working very hard. There’s a lot more to be done, I would be the first to tell you, as I think they would. But I believe we’re beginning to close the trust deficit to build greater confidence,” she added. The diplomat, who unveiled the US support for a series of Pakistan’s economic and energy programmes during her two-day visit. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk