Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Friday said Pakistan and the United States (U.S.) must undertake concerted efforts to bridge the trust gap that persists unfortunately with the potential dilution of common interest in combating against terrorism. The PM said the government of Pakistan has done its utmost to strengthen cooperation with the United States in sharing intelligence and in the fields of defense to eliminate the threat of terrorism and militancy of its territory.
The Prime Minister spoke to U.S. Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and U.S. Senator Jack Read, committee member who called on him here at the Secretariat pm Friday.
He said that the entire Pakistani nation has worked in harmony with the efforts together to fight against the threat of terrorism and extremism. Pakistan expected to friendly countries like the United States to share with him information that is credible and achievable rather than engaging in responsible gaming in order to achieve our shared goal and common success against militancy, has added.
PM Stresses the importance of rehabilitation and reconstruction in areas cleared while regretting that promises to help Pakistan to this end was a dead letter. He said the situation was exacerbated in circumstances that Pakistan was now forced to divert its development budget to the war effort.
The Prime Minister said that the current support of the people of Pakistan for military operations could dissipate unless there is a socio-economic and infrastructure rehabilitation in affected areas. He added that the partners of the United States and other economic activities must understand that the time was fast running on the root causes of poverty, namely terror, illiteracy, disease hunger and unemployment.
The Prime Minister stressed the need for a fair and non discriminatory for the United States in its relations with countries in the region especially when the people and armed forces of Pakistan have been making unprecedented sacrifices in this war.
The Prime Minister briefed the U.S. senators that the Afghan Foreign Minister, who recently visited Islamabad, had been instructed by his government to share with him the plans of the Government of Afghanistan and Pakistan was awaiting the response to this application Afghanistan. Pakistan, he said, “believes that all ethnic groups in Afghanistan must be political commitment to complement efforts for lasting stability.”
Senator Carl Levin and Senator Jack Reed has acknowledged the fact that bilateral relations between Pakistan and the United States remained on an upward trajectory and had been considerably strengthened since the establishment of a democratic government in Pakistan. They congratulated the Prime Minister for his constructive and active role in pursuing cooperation with the U.S. in the war against terrorism and normalize relations with Afghanistan and India. They assured the Prime Minister that, in their personal capacity, would continue to work to further strengthen the sharing of intelligence and defense cooperation and a better understanding of each others positions.
U.S. Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, Minister of Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Minister for Interior Rehman Malik A. Senator, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan, Senator Sughra Syeda Imam, the Secretaries of Defense and Foreign Affairs and other senior officers were present at the meeting.