June 03, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 2: President Pervez Musharraf has said that the country’s economic fundamentals are strong and expressed the hope the government would address the current downtrend.

Speaking at the National Defence University after presentation of a national strategy paper on governance of especially administered areas (Fata and NAs) and their impact on national security on Monday, he said that issues of economy and terrorism must not be politicised because that might harm the national interest.

The event was attended by NWFP Governor Owais Ghani, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majeed, Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Air Chief Marshal Tanveer Mahmood.

“I hope the government moves forward politically for the salvation and putting back on track the derailed situation. It is doable and achievable,” the president added.

He pointed out that billions of rupees had been lost during the recent slump of stock exchange and the exchange rate after staying stagnant for the past eight years to around Rs60 had touched Rs70 per dollar. “The country loses Rs28 billion with the increase of single rupee.”

He said: “If correct and bold measures are taken then all issues confronting us are solvable — whether political or economical, including energy, water and food”.

The president said that the three-pronged strategy of addressing military, political and socio-economic aspects was the way forward for addressing the situation in tribal areas.

“Military is certainly and is never the solution as it only creates an environment, the solution is always through political measures,” he added.

He said that apart from the peace deal done two years back, the current deals had been done from a position of strength, particularly in Swat and South Waziristan.

He said that an important aspect would be to ensure that there was no linkage with Al Qaeda or foreign elements and there must not be cross-border activities.

He said that there should be no politics in dealing with terrorism and the tribal region should be brought to the mainstream by providing socio-economic development to the area.

The president said he would not agree that the problems facing Afghanistan could be resolved with the withdrawal of coalition forces. “I don’t think so,” he said, adding that it could destabilise Afghanistan and also Pakistan.

Also on Monday, during a meeting with a US delegation, the president said that stable and broad-based relationships between Pakistan and United States were in the interest of the two countries and also vital for lasting peace in the region.

The delegation is led by Under Secretary for Defence Eric S. Edelman.—APP