ISLAMABAD, Jan 10: The Commander of the Nato forces in Pakistan, Air Commodore Andrew G. Walton, said on Tuesday the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had no secret agenda to pursue in the country.
Talking to journalists here on Tuesday, he said Nato forces were working in line with the clearly defined, short-term mission in Pakistan.
He said Nato’s Pakistan relief operation was in response to a request from Islamabad and added: “We have tailored our capabilities to fit their priorities.”
“The sole purpose of this mission is to provide assistance to the government and people of Pakistan in the wake of the devastating October earthquake,” he insisted.
“Nato is not, and does not aspire to be, a humanitarian relief organization. But given the magnitude of this disaster, and the need for the entire international community to do what it can to help the survivors, the alliance is doing what it can as part of the international relief effort.”
Mr Walton said the Nato mission was focussed on delivering assistance to as many survivors as possible and helping pave the way for other agencies to begin the process of long-term assistance and reconstruction.
“In practice, this means stabilization and ‘winterization’ of the surviving population to ensure that it can endure the winter season. This focuses our work on engineering projects, medical provision and water purification”, he said. “The mission encompasses activities to provide schools, maintain open roads and restore medical facilities.”
He said Nato recognized the need to maintain medical support it had been providing to the quake-affected people and was in the process of transferring medical responsibility to local healthcare providers in the Bagh area.
According to him, the Nato engineers were repairing and upgrading the road between Arja and Bagh. Nato’s engineers are supporting the army in the Operation Winter Race by constructing over 70 multi-purpose shelters for the population living on two mountains.They were also distributing drinking water among 1,000 persons every day.
Nato’s helicopters are flying daily up to 25 tons of relief goods and sheltering materials to remote mountain villages and evacuating victims.
