May 12, 2006	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 11: Pakistan is an emerging strategic partner of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and it will establish a military liaison office in Pakistan besides establishing broader public diplomacy ties.

This was stated by the visiting Deputy Secretary-General of Nato Allesandro Minuto-Rizzo and the organisation’s civilian representative in Afghanistan Mr Hikmet Cetin while speaking to a select group of newsmen after meeting President Gen Pervez Musharraf here on Thursday.

They said a military delegation would shortly visit Pakistan to work out details with government authorities.

The deputy secretary-general of Nato said the organisation would open up all its defence schools and academies for Pakistan’s military personnel besides holding periodic consultations with Islamabad on military and political affairs.

Terming Pakistan an important country, he said it was an emerging strategic partner of the alliance.

Highlighting Nato’s transformation, he said it was developing relations with countries of the world. “The relationship between Nato and Pakistan was new one, and we want to build on it,” he said.

Public diplomacy was another area in which Nato wanted to promote relations, noting that there was “less understanding of Nato in Pakistan”. He said that a high-level event was needed to boost relations between Nato and Pakistan.

Referring to Nato forces’ work after the earthquake last year, he said the forces’ had come purely on a humanitarian mission.

The deputy secretary-general of Nato said the organisation had no plans to fence Pak-Afghan border as it was a bilateral issue, but said the Nato would support if such a decision was taken by the two governments.