ISLAMABAD, March 31: US ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C Crocker on Thursday reiterated US commitment to counter-narcotics cooperation with Pakistan. He was speaking at the graduation ceremony of drug treatment training here, said a press release. Twenty-six doctors, psychologists, medical personnel and NGO representatives in Pakistan participated in the two-week course organized by the Malaysian NGO Pengasih in cooperation with the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).

The US International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau of the Department of State funded the training, which would also be replicated in Lahore and Karachi in the coming two months.

Mr Crocker recognized that the fight against drugs required international efforts. “It becomes a global problem when US, Malaysia and Pakistan discuss ways to combat the menace of drugs.

“Drug traffickers do not respect borders and drug users do not live in a bubble. Their problems are problems of society, as narcotics leads to violence and criminal activities that can threaten stability and welfare of any nation.”

The US and Pakistan had been working for last 20 years to stop drug trafficking and reduce supply of drugs. The US was supplying operational support, commodities, aviation assets and training to Pakistani agencies operating on the borders, including the Frontier Corps and ANF.

The statement quoted the ambassador as saying that US supported poppy monitoring nationwide and eradication efforts in the NWFP and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The US had funded construction of over 450 kilometre roads to give the law-enforcement forces access to remote areas for crop eradication and to allow farmers to deliver legitimate produce to market.

In those areas, the US had introduced high value crops as alternatives to poppy and built nearly 700 small cash schemes, such as water wells and electrification schemes.