0
WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani did not ask for a civil nuclear agreement with the United States when he met US President Barack Obama in Seoul, a senior White House official said.
“No, they actually did not get into that subject,” said US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes when asked if Mr Gilani asked for such a deal in his March 27 meeting with the US leader in Seoul.
“The meeting really focused on the parliamentary review, counter-terrorism, Afghanistan, they touched some (issues) on the potential to deepen economic cooperation,” said Mr Rhodes.
“So I think really other than reiterating the commitment to nuclear security and the shared effort to the Nuclear Security Summit, there wasn’t a discussion of additional civilian nuclear cooperation,” said the White House official.
Mr Rhodes, who briefed the Washington-based media on the meeting in a video news conference, noted that the US was currently engaged in a partnership with Pakistan to address its urgent energy needs “in ways that do not involve necessarily civil nuclear cooperation”.
He said that although no request for a civil nuclear deal was made, President Obama did express his continued commitment to helping Pakistan deal with “a very significant” energy challenge.
Mr Rhodes said the two leaders discussed the importance of ensuring a stable, sovereign Afghanistan, including “working together in earnest” to support an Afghan-led reconciliation process. President Obama welcomed Prime Minister Gilani’s recent statement encouraging all Taliban to join the political process, he added.
With the Pakistani parliamentary review nearing completion, President Obama made clear his view that the United States and Pakistan must move forward on important shared interests, including counter-terrorism and fostering a stable Afghanistan, the White House official said.
“The president underscored that he values a relationship between our two countries based on mutual interest, trust and respect for Pakistani sovereignty. And again, in that vein, the president very much welcomes the review that the parliament is conducting and the efforts that the Pakistan civilian government is undertaking to address the US-Pakistan relationship,” Mr Rhodes said.
The two leaders also agreed that as cooperation on their shared interest increased, the United States would welcome the potential participation of Pakistan in the Isaf summit in Chicago in May, he said.
“This was a meeting that made important progress in both sides being able to hear directly from one another about what their views are of the various interests on which we cooperate,” said the US official.
“The president came away from the meeting with a clear understanding of the process that’s underway in Pakistan to review aspects of the relationship between our two countries. And again, he’s very respectful of that process, which is under way.”
The White House official said that President Obama was able to “communicate clearly” the views of the United States, which included “our core national interest” in continuing US efforts against Al Qaeda in the region and a significant commitment to a relationship between the United States and Pakistan that served the interests of both nations.
The two leaders went beyond the security issues and also discussed the broader relationship, including trade and investment relationship that served both countries, Mr Rhodes said.
Mr Rhodes refused to provide a direct answer when asked if the two leaders also discussed the drone issue.
“Without getting into any specific programmes or operations, what I would say is that we discussed ways in which we can ensure that we have an ongoing dialogue at all levels of our government — civilian and others,” he said.
President Obama expressed “the significant, core interest that the United States has in defeating Al Qaeda, which is shared by Pakistan,” the US official said.
