ISLAMABAD: In what is seen here as a serious attempt to repair the dent in relations caused by serious allegations emanating from Washington, America’s special envoy Marc Grossman said here after wide-ranging talks with political and military leadership on Thursday that US-Pakistan relations were important for both the countries and served their best interests.
The United States wanted strong and cordial relations with Pakistan, he said at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
But during a meeting with Mr Grossman, President Asif Ali Zardari told him bluntly that restraint should be exercised in public pronouncements for the sake of developing a cooperative roadmap to overcome trust deficit. He stressed that relations between the two countries should not be transactional, but based on long-term partnership, mutual respect and shared interests.
Any public messaging tending to undermine this bedrock of relationship shrank political space for a democratic government, the president said.
He called for following clearly defined, well-documented and mutually agreed terms of engagement to avoid operational irritants hampering the relationship. He emphasised that a long-term, sustainable and multi-dimensional relationship with the US should be based on mutual interest, trust and respect.
Mr Zardari said no country had made greater contributions and sacrifices in the fight against terrorism than Pakistan, adding that the international community should acknowledge it and help the country in its efforts.
Enemies of peace, he said, would continue to sabotage the peace process, but these non-state actors must not be allowed to hold governments in the region hostage.
“Ironically, militants and terrorists gained the most from verbal assaults and finger-pointing at Pakistan or questioning commitment to fighting extremists,” the president was quoted as saying by his spokesman Farhatullah Babar.
Mr Zardari said: “Despite negative propaganda against Pakistan, we are committed to regional peace and have decided to attend the forthcoming trilateral summit of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey in Istanbul next month for peace and stability in the region.”
At a separate meeting, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Mr Grossman that Pakistan-US relations must go beyond coordination in counter-terrorism. He said the government and people of Pakistan were determined to combat extremism and terrorism.
At the press conference with Ms Khar, Mr Grossman said the two countries had agreed to carry forward the dialogue process. Technical working groups formed by the two countries would continue to hold meetings in future to further enhance cooperation in these fields.
He said efforts were under way to identify interests of the two countries in the relationship and expressed the hope that they would work together and coordinate with each other through the strategic dialogue process.
He said he had also discussed with Ms Khar the upcoming peace conferences in Istanbul and Bonn, adding that Pakistan should be included in the peace process because it was an important country to play a role in peace and security in the region. He said the success of these two conferences would be helpful in ensuring peace and security in Afghanistan, the region and the world.
Mr Grossman said he had visited Central Asian states, Afghanistan, China and India before coming to Pakistan and brought a message of hope and support from the countries for peace and security in the region.
Ms Khar said the two sides vowed to carry forward the strategic dialogue process and decided that working groups would continue to meet in future.
The two sides discussed bilateral ties with special reference to Afghanistan and current regional and international issues and the forthcoming meetings in Istanbul on Nov 2 and in Bonn on Dec 5 on peace and security in the region. They also agreed to pursue bilateral cooperation in different fields for which working groups had been formed.
The foreign minister said: “Pakistan-US relations are very important at the bilateral level and now these are more important at global level because of the war against terrorism.”
Mr Grossman also met Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. According to the ISPR, matters relating to Pak-US ties and cooperative framework for peace in the region were discussed.
General John Allen, Commander of ISAF, also called on Gen Kayani and discussed with him measures aimed at improving cross-border coordination and procedures between Pakistan army, ISAF and Afghan forces along the Pak-Afghan border.
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