News
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
G8 announces Pak-Afghan economic plan* Initiative aims to help improve trade between both countries, strengthen border infrastructure
* Canadian FM says stability in region ‘critical for global security’GATINEAU/OTTAWA: Foreign ministers of the G8 countries agreed on an economic initiative plan for the Pak-Afghan border regions, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said on Tuesday.
“Stability in the region is critical for global security,” Cannon told reporters at the start of two days of G8 talks. Foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US as well as European Union chief diplomat Catherine Ashton met to discuss threats such as nuclear proliferation, regional conflicts and terrorism.
Iran’s and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, cracking down on terrorist bases in Yemen and elsewhere, crisis in Haiti and tensions in Bosnia and South America were also to be discussed.
The G8 ministers urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai to rein in terrorists and guarantee human rights, saying that a heavy price had been paid in blood and money to bring stability to the war-torn nation. “All of us have invested heavily and at considerable cost in lives in helping Afghanistan to build a peaceful and stable state that will never again become a haven for terrorists,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told G8 ministers on the second day of talks in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
Echoing US President Barack Obama’s calls for swifter progress, Harper said the time had come for Afghanistan to live up to its commitment to restore peace and prosperity for its people.”The Afghan government must continue to assume greater responsibility for its own security, while providing basic services and good governance as President Karzai promised in London,” Harper said, referring to a meeting in January.
Earlier, Obama said, “I think that the progress is too slow, and what we’ve been trying to emphasise is the fierce urgency of now.” The US president made the comment following his return from a surprise trip to the country where he asked Karzai to make greater efforts to tackle corruption and the rampant drug trade that has been blamed for providing financial backing to terrorists. G8 ministers said, “Stability in Afghanistan and the surrounding region is crucial to stemming terrorism with a global reach.”
The G8 ministers also pressured Iran to prove its nuclear ambitions are peaceful by renewing calls for the country to be hit with new international sanctions if it fails to comply. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk