MULTAN: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Wednesday his government fully recognised sacrifices made by Pakistan in the war against terrorism, adding that Britain was playing its role to mitigate the hardship and strengthen the country’s economy.

Addressing a press conference along with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, he said the UK and the European Union appreciated the way the civilian and military leadership carried out the war against terrorism.

He said Britain and the EU had increased their financial assistance for relief and rehabilitation of the people displaced by the military operation in Malakand division.

In reply to a question about the writing off of Pakistan’s loans, Mr Miliband said the world economy was in recession. He said the IMF had praised Pakistan’s economic performance and pledged more aid. He said Pakistan would have to depend mainly on its own resources and tap its potential to the optimum level.

Mr Miliband said Pakistan could get free trade access but that would pose a big challenge to this country as well.

About Kashmir and water disputes, he said India and Pakistan were sovereign countries which could themselves resolve their outstanding issues.

In reply to a question about reported use of US and Indian arms by the Taliban, Mr Miliband said that an arms trade treaty was under consideration so that weapons did not reach terrorists.He said his country believed in democracy and would help Pakistan’s civilian government and not support military rule. He said Pakistan and the UK were major trade partners and his country would boost relations for the benefit of the people of Pakistan.

Foreign Minister Qureshi said the purpose of inviting Mr Miliband to Multan was to enable him to see real Pakistan.

 
He said that Pakistan’s economy was suffering a loss of $8.5 billion a year on account of the war against terrorism.

He said he had informed his counterparts at the G-8 meeting in Italy about the loss and they assured more economic assistance.

‘Almost 50 per cent of our resources are eaten up by foreign debt repayments every year. It will be a real help for Pakistan if these loans are written off.’—APP

Shakeel Ahmed in Multan adds: The British foreign secretary said the West was asking Iran to desist from making nuclear weapons because the country had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

During an interactive session with students of the Bahauddin Zakariya University, Mr Miliband said that everything would be fine if Iran assured the world that its nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes. But, he said, the Iranian government had failed to satisfy the world on the issue.

He said that 99 per cent of Pakistanis were against extremism and terrorism, adding that during his visit he had observed more harmony between the army and civil society against terrorism.

He said that more than 10,000 Pakistani students were studying in England and they had equal rights there.

In reply to a question about the recent arrest of 10 students in the UK, he said they had been arrested on some complaints and they had been given full opportunity to defend themselves. He said that one of the students had been declared innocent while cases of the others were under investigation.