12 May 2004	Wednesday	21 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

NEW YORK, May 11: Former prime minister Moeen Qureshi on Monday credited President Pervez Musharraf for establishing "the improbable idea" that peaceful co-existence with India was "achievable".

Speaking at a fundraiser for John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, at the Pakistan Consulate, Mr Qureshi observed that the Musharraf government had given Pakistan financial stability and honest governance at the highest level.

He recalled that in the past the civilian governments had become "fiscal alcoholics" but applauded the performance of country's present economic managers terming it "exemplary".

On Pakistan's alliance with the United States in the global war on terror, Mr Qureshi said Gen. Musharraf at that time faced a "hobsenian choice" and he made the right decision.

He said Pakistan's relationship with the United States was a story of many ups and downs, many embraces and many abandonment, and expressed hope that the new relationship could be sustained in the long run.

Noting that the United States has the tendency "to see things through its own prism" Mr Qureshi observed that war on terror within Muslim states was ensuing between moderate and extremist forces.

He said that United States needed Pakistan to help fight terrorism in Afghanistan and similarly Pakistan needed American support for its financial wellbeing. Mr Qureshi, a former World Bank and IMF official, was of the opinion that in the global war on terrorism the United States could not depend on the "coalition of the willing", asserting "it needs a global coalition".