Clinton
wants Mulla Omar in peace talks
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a
congressional panel on Thursday that any Afghan-led peace process would have to
include the Quetta Shura and its leader Mulla Omar.Her statement before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs also emphasised several other key points reflecting a major change in US approach towards seeking a peaceful end to the Afghan conflict. “There is no solution in the region without Pakistan and no stable future in the region without a partnership.”
The US needs to negotiate with the Haqqani network while continuing to work with Pakistan to destroy the safe havens it has inside Fata.
The US aid to Pakistan should not be conditioned to disbanding Lashkar-i-Taiba. And the “real game-changer in the region” would be a stronger relationship between Pakistan and India.
Her statement indicated that the new US approach had evolved further after Secretary Clinton’s visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan last week where she discussed this strategy with the leaders of those two countries as well.
After the visit, she told the US media that the United States and Pakistan had reached 90-95 per cent agreement on the issues that at one stage appeared close to breaking up their relationship.
The lawmakers, who still seem upset with Pakistan over its alleged links to the militants, created several opportunities for the secretary to browbeat Pakistan but she refrained from doing so.
Congressman Steve Chabot, a Republican, asked Secretary Clinton if the US was prepared to negotiate with Mulla Omar. “And if so, under what circumstances and what would our conditions be?” he asked.
“Well, Congressman, the negotiations that would be part of any Afghan-led peace process would have to include the Quetta Shura and would have to include some recognition by the Quetta Shura which, based on everything we know, is still led by Mulla Omar, that they wish to participate in such a process,” she responded. “We are pursuing every thread of any kind of interest expressed.”
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the panel’s chairperson, questioned the wisdom of engaging the Haqqani network while it continued to attack US soldiers in Afghanistan. “What’s the US strategy, crackdown or negotiate with the Haqqani network or a little bit of both,” she asked.
“It’s both,” said Secretary Clinton.
Later, while responding to Congressman Chabot, she said the US agreed to meet the Haqqani network because that the ISI had asked them to do so.
“This was done in part because I think the Pakistanis hope to be able to move the Haqqani network towards some kind of peace negotiation and the answer was an attack on our embassy” in Kabul.
The US still wanted to stay engaged with the Haqqani network to test whether these organisations had any willingness to negotiate in good faith, she told Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen.
“There is evidence going both ways, to be clear. Sometimes we hear that they will, that there are elements within each that wish to pursue that, and then other times that it’s off the table.” she added.
Secretary Clinton noted that only last week the US had launched a major military operation in Afghanistan that rounded up and eliminated more than 100 Haqqani network operatives. “And we are taking action to target the Haqqani leadership on both sides of the border,” she said. “We are already working with the Pakistanis to target those who are behind a lot of the attacks against Afghans and Americans.”
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen asked Secretary Clinton to comment on a recent statement by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that if there was war between Pakistan and America, he would side with Pakistan.
Secretary Clinton said that as soon as she heard this statement, she asked the US ambassador in Kabul to figure out what Mr Karzai meant and the ambassador reported back that Mr Karzai was talking about the long history of cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, in particular the refuge that Pakistan provided to millions of Afghans during the Soviet occupation.
“This was not at all about a war that anybody was predicting,” she said. Responding to a question about recent remarks by US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and former military chief Admiral Mike Mullen, who blamed Pakistan for continuing to support the militants, Secretary Clinton said that neither Mr Panetta nor Admiral Mullen ever questioned the need to stay engaged with Pakistan.
She said that everyone in the US administration believed that the Haqqanis had safe havens inside Pakistan and used these hideouts for attacking US and Afghan soldiers.
“And we also agree, however, … that there is no solution in the region without Pakistan and no stable future in the region without a partnership.”
Congressman Ed Royce, another Republican, reminded her that another congressional panel had asked the Obama administration to condition US assistance to Pakistan to shutting down the LeT and asked her if she was willing to do so.
“We have had intensive discussions with our Indian counterparts” on the LeT and on the attacks it allegedly carried out in India. But “I do not want to commit at this time to taking such a path because I think it’s important that there be further consideration of all of the implications,” Secretary Clinton said.
“Certainly, every time we meet with the Pakistanis, we press them on the LeT about the continuing failure, in our view, to fulfil all of the requirements necessary for prosecution related to the Mumbai attacks and we will continue to do so,” she said.
Secretary Clinton said that like the congressman, she too worried about the possibility that LeT attacks inside India could trigger yet another war between India and Pakistan. “And we discuss it in great depth with our Indian counterparts, because it is, first and foremost, a concern of theirs. It is obviously also concerning to us.”
Congressman Joe Wilson, also a Republican, noted that Pakistan was developing a most-favoured nation trade status with India and asked what the US could do to promote a level of trade and positive contact between India and Pakistan.
“Well, Congressman, I agree with you that the real game-changer in the region is not so much our bilateral relationship as the relationship between Pakistan and India. And the more that there can be progress, the more likely there can be even more progress,” the secretary said.
“So we have in Pakistan today a leadership, both civilian and military, that wants to see progress with India, and we have the same on the Indian side.”
Commonwealth forum Business potential highlighted
KARACHI, Oct 27: Pakistan for the first
time participated in the Commonwealth Business Forum organised by the
Commonwealth Business Council and a special session was held in Perth on
Pakistan`s Potential: Opportunities for trade and investment.
Trade Development Authority (TDAP) chief executive Tariq Puri chaired the
special session with Mian Mansha, chairman of Nishat Group and Razzak Dawood,
chairman of Descon group, panelists of the session.According to a message received here the special session of the forum was held on Wednesday in Perth, Australia, where Com- monwealth head of governments meeting began from Thursday. In the keynote presentation Mr Puri highlighted trade potential between Pakistan and other Commonwealth members. He said that Pakistan`s exports to commonwealth countries were $3.63 billion while imports were $7 billion. However, 173 products, which Pakistan exports to commonwealth countries, form a market share of 0.3 per cent of range of products which constitutes 55 per cent of commonwealth nation`s total imports worth $1.18 trillion. He pointed out that Pakistan could increase its share by adding value and product diversification. Tariq Puri informed the participants, representing leading entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world, that the World Bank`s `Ease of doing business Index` has ranked Pakistan as No. 1 in South Asia. He disclosed some startling facts about the agriculture sector and said Pakistan was the second largest buffalo meat and milk producer, 3rd largest cottonseed and chilies producer, 4th largest goat meat supplier, 5th largest mango producer and 7th largest wheat producer of the world. But unfortunately, he said, the country failed to translate these advantages and strengths in capturing a larger share in the global processed food market. The TDAP chief also informed the participants that Pakistan had the 5th largest coal reserves in the world and it is also bestowed with an abundance of other natural resources. He said Pakistan seeks foreign investment to bring in requisite technology to explore these resources which could benefit both the sides and improve living standards of the masses.
State Bank of Pakistan: New
governor to push for greater central bank independence
KARACHI:
Newly-appointed State Bank Governor Yaseen Anwar plans on working
closely with the Senate to sanctify into law the SBP’s independence –
something it has worked to establish in practice over the past decade.The State Bank (Amendment) Bill – which would reduce the role of the finance ministry in overseeing the central bank and abolish the government’s right to supersede the SBP’s decisions – was unanimously passed in the National Assembly on November 4, 2010. However, it very quickly ran aground in the Senate finance committee, where legislators from both sides of the aisle objected to the degree of independence being sought by the SBP. The senators objected in particular to the clauses that would place legal restrictions on government borrowing from the central bank, as well as the abolition of the authority to supersede central bank decisions. Anwar hopes to get the upper house of parliament to reconsider. “I hope to have some of those clauses reinstated,” he said in an interview with The Express Tribune. The governor, however, was quick to dispel notions that the central bank was being subjected to political pressure, particularly with respect to the October 4 cut in the discount rate (the interest rate at which commercial banks can borrow from the SBP’s discount window). The central bank caught the market by surprise by slashing the benchmark rate from 14% to 12.5%. There had been speculation in many newspapers that the cut – which would reduce the cost of borrowing throughout the economy – was made under pressure from the government. Anwar, however, explained the decision-making process. (Read: Explaining the rate cut – A case of contrasting styles) “The monetary policy was first discussed in the internal monetary policy committee of the State Bank, which includes leading economists,” said the governor. “The consensus that eventually developed was of around a 1.5% cut. That recommendation was then sent to the Central Board, which then approved the decision.” Anwar also said that the government plans on restricting borrowing from the central bank to a minimum and maintain fiscal discipline. “Even though we have exited the IMF programme, we will continue to operate as though we are under that programme.” That includes, he said, a borrowing limit of Rs1,155 billion for the federal government, much of which comes from commercial banks that buy treasury bills. The Wharton-educated governor was appointed to his current position on October 19, after having served twice as the acting governor during the two periods the government’s previous appointees resigned their post prematurely. He had been serving since March 2007 as the deputy governor, and the head of the Banking Services Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the central bank that accounts for nearly 80% of its 6,000-man workforce. The BSC serves as the operational arm of the State Bank. His experience in leading that division, Anwar feels, helped give him an edge over his potential rivals for the job. “When I was appointed and started working as governor, I didn’t miss a beat,” said Anwar. “I knew the history of every file I looked at. That continuity meant that we don’t lose out on stability.” Yet one gets the impression that the appointment comes to Anwar as something of a relief. “When I was serving in both roles – as acting governor as well as deputy governor – I was working 18-hour days.” “I was only taking everyday decisions as acting governor, since it would be unfair to any person who would eventually be made governor. Now that I have the job, I can take longer-term decisions,” he said.
Militants not only ones killed in drone attacks: Imran
ISLAMABAD: Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said
Thursday that militants were not the only ones being killed in US drone
attacks, Geo News reported.
Addressing a press conference here, Khan said if the government could not fulfill its responsibilities it should resign. Khan said Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has the technology to shot drones down. Government can give orders for shooting down drones, said Imran Khan and added but such attacks are being made with the consent of the NRO infected government. “According to the Pakistani constitution the democratic government is responsible; if the government cannot fulfill its responsibilities then it should give way to other parties” Khan said. The Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman said his party was ready and willing to shoulder this responsibility
Business News
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Thu, 27 October 2011
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