October 7, 2003	Tuesday	Sha’aban 10, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 6: Pakistan has received firm assurances from the highest US authorities that the Bush administration will get the proposed $3 billion military and economic aid package approved by the Congress in time to have it included in the next US budget.

“We are not worried about it,” said Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri while talking to Dawn here on Monday.

Claiming that all genuine defence requirements of the country would be met by the US he said this matter was convincingly conveyed by President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali to US leaders in their recent meetings the latter in the US.

“The US government has become aware of the military imbalance in the region specially after India’s acquisition of the most modern equipment from Israel and that is why we are confident of securing matching military supplies from Washington,” the foreign minister said.

He said Pakistan had achieved considerable support in the US government, Congress and various other important thinktanks as a result of the president and prime minister’s visit to the US.

“Tomorrow a delegation of six important US senators is arriving here and we hope to conclude positive talks with them on different military, political and economic matters,” he said.

Mr Kasuri claimed that Pakistan’s concerns, specially with regard to India, had been greatly addressed by the Bush Administration.

“We have plainly told the Americans that if they want us to address their concerns, they will have to address our concerns as well especially about India which is creating huge military imbalance in the region by acquiring modern weapons from everywhere,” Mr Kasuri said.

In reply to a question, he rejected the American media reports that while President Musharraf was supporting war against terror, many lower level officers in the army were opposing the present government in Pakistan.

“These are baseless and frivolous reports and are being even denied by officials of the Bush Administration,” he said.

In reply to a question, the foreign minister also rejected assertions that Pakistan was interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. The issue, he said, had been discussed in detail specially during his seven-hour-long meeting with President Hamid Karzai, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and other important Afghan leaders in Kabul recently.

Asked about the US request to send military troops to Iraq, he said that in principle Pakistan was not opposed to the idea. “But we have made it clear to our American friends that without the United Nations cover, there could be a harsh reaction and that Pakistan does not want to be part of the occupation forces in that country,” he said.

However, he said after the UN permission, Pakistan would very much like to seek the approval of the Muslim countries by taking the matter to Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).