Saturday, October 23, 2010

United States and Pakistan Strengthen Strategic Relations
 

 
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
 
Washington - Significant things can be accomplished between partners through listening to each other and learning from each other, says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. That approach has characterized the latest round of the U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue.
 
It is the third meeting of the strategic dialogue this year between the two partners and is designed to show a commitment to strengthening the relationship based on values, mutual respect, trust and interests, Clinton said.
 
"We came together in this strategic dialogue to discuss how to help the Pakistani people in the areas that Pakistani people themselves had identified as their more important concerns," Clinton said at a news briefing with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the State Department October 22.
 
The United States will provide a multiyear security assistance commitment to Pakistan. President Obama will ask Congress to fund $2 billion in foreign military assistance for the years 2012 to 2016 to help step up the fight against extremists there and in neighboring Afghanistan, Clinton said.
 
This will complement $7.5 billion in civilian projects over five years that has already been approved by Congress, Clinton added. The new military assistance is for purchasing U.S.-made arms, ammunition and accessories and is designed to help bolster Pakistani efforts against Taliban extremists and al-Qaida terrorist affiliates holed up in the mountainous region that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan. It replaces a similar package begun in 2005 that expired October 1 this year.
 
"Pakistan and the U.S. need to cooperate more closely in bringing stability and peace in Afghanistan," Qureshi said. "We also hope that our consultation and cooperation on issues of regional peace, security and stability will continue to make a salutary impact on the overall environment."
 
Qureshi said the strategic dialogue is a reflection of the broad range of areas in which "we want and need to work together to broaden and deepen our multifaceted cooperation and to advance our shared goal of building a strategic partnership." He thanked the United States for its assistance during the devastating floods that destroyed homes, farms and businesses, affected 21 million people and caused long-term damage to Pakistan's infrastructure and economy.
 
"The United States was very proud working with the Pakistani government and military to help with the rescue operations and to help pick up thousands and thousands of stranded Pakistanis and to deliver millions of pounds of refugee supplies, as well as $390 million in relief and recovery aid," Clinton said. The assistance has not ended and will continue into full reconstruction and recovery, she added.
 
Clinton and Qureshi co-chaired the dialogue, which was held October 20 to 22.
 
The Obama administration has begun using strategic dialogues as a means for deeper consultations and commitment among select nations. The dialogues are designed to respond to the specific needs of partner nations and enhance cooperation in critical areas.
 
Delegates from Pakistan and the United States met in 13 working groups to expand cooperation in strengthening democratic institutions, agriculture and food security, communications, water resources, energy security, health care, women's empowerment, economic trade and investment, and recovery and reconstruction after the devastating floods earlier in the year. The talks underscored the specific purpose of this session of the dialogue - which will rotate between Islamabad and Washington - to identify issues and how best to address them.
 
Clinton said the working groups have settled on an action plan for Pakistan that is a blueprint for cooperation.
 
"We now have a plan to immunize against disease 90 percent of Pakistani children. We have a plan to improve the reliability of electricity supply to the Pakistani people," Clinton told reporters. "And yesterday [October 21], we began distributing wheat and vegetable seed as part of a broader plan to help half a million farming families get back on their feet."
 
In addition, working groups have devised a plan to enhance the country's existing energy infrastructure and develop new sources of power, and equipment has been ordered for four power plants, Clinton said. A public-private partnership is being completed to build a 150-megawatt wind farm in Sindh province that will draw on the potential of winds that blow down the Pakistani coastline.
 
"Working groups have also been involved in collaborating on new scientific projects, in fact 27 new projects, including research on deadly diseases like hepatitis and tuberculosis, with joint funding from both governments," Clinton said.
 
Water experts from Pakistani provinces will soon visit New Orleans in the United States to study the flood relief and reconstruction that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she added.
 
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. )

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