Pakistan wants Washington to long-term ties: FM

Pakistan wants tangible signs that the  United States is committed to long-term partnership with the country and its democracy, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said according to The Washington Post.

“We want to be positive, we want to cooperate, we want a long-term relationship, we want a partnership. So how serious are you in broadening that relationship that is what we want to know,” he told the newspaper.

Qureshi, who met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Friday in advance of a visit to Washington later this month by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, said that US officials have answered “yes” to his question but that “it has to be demonstrated in form.”

Meanwhile, in a CNN appearance, the foreign minister also made a pitch for forging a stable and wide-ranging relationship between the two nations.

“The US Congress has to have a long-term, broad-based, stable relationship with Pakistan. We have to have an understanding in which we build institutions, we build democracy, we build values that we both ascribe to. We have a shared interest, and we need to support each other on that common approach, and we have to join our resources to fight that common enemy,” he told the channel’s Situation Room.

Pakistan, he said, is firm in its determination to combat terrorism through a multifaceted approach and said the country’s security forces are not withdrawing from tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

“No, we are not stepping aside. We are not withdrawing. The forces will be there. We havewe are pursuing a policy of political engagement, but that does not mean that we will capitulate in front of terrorists. We will not negotiate. We will not talk to the terrorists. And if required, we will use force and we have used force in operations.

Pakistan, he stated, is firmly confronting al-Qaeda elements in the border region. “We are confronting, and we are dealing with, and we are using all our resources to fight them. Because we feel that this fight is not an alien fight. It is a fight that we believe in. It’s a fight to protect our way of life. We have certain values, and the Taliban, the al-Qaeda do not uphold the values that we believe in.

In answer to a question, he said exact whereabouts of Osama bin Laden are not known and if anybody knows about that he should share that information.

Rejecting criticism of the country’s anti-terrorism efforts on the Afghan border, the foreign minister assured that “Pakistan is doing whatever it can to be supportive. We feel that we have interest in a peaceful, stable Afghanistan.

It is in our enlightened self-interest to have peace and check the cross-border movement — it’s a bit of exaggeration to just pass the buck to Pakistan. There are serious internal issues in Afghanistan. And I don’t say at the Paris conference, the other leaders who were there, talking about Afghanistan.

Referring to his meeting with senior US officials on Friday, Qureshi said they understand the situation in the border region and know Pakistan is doing its best to counter terrorism.