US-Pakistan putting tensions behind them: Clinton
TOKYO: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that the United States and Pakistan are putting past tensions behind them to focus on the future, after meeting with her Pakistani counterpart.It was their first face-to-face meeting since the two countries last week struck a deal to reopen key supply routes into Afghanistan, closed for seven months following a US attack in which 24 Pakistani soldiers died.
Clinton told reporters in Tokyo she had “a broad-ranging discussion” with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on some of the issues surrounding the reopening of border routes during their one-hour meeting.
“We are both encouraged that we have been able to put the recent difficulties behind us so we can focus on the many challenges ahead,” she said, on the sidelines of a conference on Afghanistan’s future.
However she acknowledged that ties between the two wary allies would still be tested in the future.
The killing of the soldiers, coupled with a US raid on the Pakistani compound of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011, plunged relations to new lows.
Pakistan remains angry about US drone strikes against insurgents hiding in its unruly border area with Afghanistan, while Washington has repeatedly called on Islamabad to do more to prevent it being a safe haven for militant leaders.
But the two countries aimed to use the “positive momentum generated” by last week’s deal to move forward on many of the challenges still facing them, Clinton said.
She stressed that her talks with Khar had “focused on the necessity of defeating the terror networks that threaten the stability of Pakistan and Afghanistan” as well as Afghan reconciliation efforts.
“We also discussed economic support and the goal of moving towards more trade then aid as part of our economic relationship,” Clinton said.
“Obviously there’s a lot of follow-up work that has to be done. I’ve said a number of times that this is a challenging and essential relationship. It remains so,” Clinton added.
“I have no reason to believe that it will not continue to raise hard questions for us both, but it is something I think is in the interests of the United States as well as Pakistan,” the top US diplomat said.
Clinton and Khar met alone for about an hour, according to a US official who asked not to be named, adding that the meeting was a sign of the “intensity of her engagement”.
The pair later joined Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul for three-way talks, and committed to work together for an “inclusive Afghan peace”.
In a joint statement, the trio issued a “call for the armed opposition to abandon violence and enter a dialogue with the Afghan government”.
The three diplomats also stressed that the “great effort and sacrifice by the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and the international community has decimated al Qaeda’s core leadership in the region”.
Last week, Clinton said Washington was sorry for the deaths of the Pakistani soldiers in November, paving the way for Islamabad to agree to reopen the supply routes vital for Nato and the US to truck supplies into Afghanistan.
The border blockade had forced the United States and its allies to rely on longer, more costly routes through Central Asia, Russia and the Caucasus.
As part of the deal to reopen the borders, Washington will also release about $1.1 billion to the Pakistani military from a US “coalition support fund” designed to reimburse Islamabad for the cost of counter-insurgency operations.
“The fact that the GLOCS (general lines of communication) were closed was getting in the way of a lot of conversations. Now the GLOCS are open it seems to be that we have an opportunity to go back into business with them,” the senior US official told reporters.
Bombs, clashes kill 35, seven of them Nato soldiers, in Afghanistan
KABUL: At least 35 people, including seven Nato soldiers, were killed in a string of roadside bombs and clashes on Sunday, one of the most violent days in the country for months.A bomb killed six Nato troops in the east, the coalition said without elaborating, after an insurgent attack in the south killed one foreign soldier.
Twenty-eight Afghan civilians and police were killed in southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces, officials said.
On the same day, major donors in Tokyo pledged $16 billion in development aid for Afghanistan over the next four years as they try to prevent it from sliding back into chaos once most foreign troops have left by the end of 2014.
The Taliban said early on Sunday that a roadside bomb had killed four American soldiers in eastern Logar province, where Czech soldiers are based. The exact location of the six dead Nato soldiers in the east was not immediately clear.
Three bombs hit three vehicles in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban where the group has substantial sway and enjoys popular support, killing 18 people including children.
“Villagers were travelling in a mini-van and a tractor when they were hit by twin roadside bombs planted by the Taliban,” the provincial governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Faisal, said of the attack in Spin Boldak near the border with Pakistan.
A third bomb then killed a family of four in Arghistan district, also straddling the Pakistan border, local officials said.
Two policemen were killed by a bomb to the west of Kandahar in southern Helmand province, where clashes with militants killed a further four officers, the Helmand media office said.
Roadside bombs are by far the deadliest weapon deployed by Taliban insurgents in the war against Nato and the government.
Civilians bear the brunt of the violence. Although the UN reported a 20 per cent decrease in civilian deaths in the first four months of this year from the same period in 2011, last year saw the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan rise for a fifth straight year to over 3,000.
Nato says the vast majority of these deaths are caused by insurgents, not by the coalition.
Govt, providing all incentives, facilities to traders: Fahim
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Trade Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Sunday said that government has been providing all incentives and facilities to the trader’s community in the country.While talking to PTV, he said European Union (EU) would give tax free access to Pakistan till 2014.
He said that trade sector would boost up after getting access in different countries and Pakistan produced best vegetables, fruit and pulses in the world. He said that Pakistan export its fruit especially mango throughout of the world.
Replying to a question, he said Board of Investment was doing best work with honesty and pleasantly.
The minister said that restoration of the constitution of the country in a real shape was a big achievement of the present government; he further said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had given great sacrifices for the restoration of democratic system in the country.
Makhdoom said that China was a good friend of Pakistan and there is great demand of Pakistani goods in China, adding that Pakistan and Turkey would launch a goods train in near future.
He said that it was very useful to open Attari Gate and Wahgah border and issuance of multiple visas for trade between Pakistan and India.
Replying to another question regarding war on terror, he said that Pakistan had given a lot of unforgettable sacrifices in the war on terror as compare to other country of the world.
Makhdoom Amin Fahim said that it was the great wish of Shaheed Benazir Bhuto to empower the women and PPP is paying full attention to empower the women.
He appealed before the media to present positive image of the country.
Gunmen attack at army camp in Gujrat kills seven
ISLAMABAD: Gunmen opened fire on an army camp near Islamabad on Monday, killing seven security personnel and wounding five others, the military said.The attack happened near the industrial city of Wazirabad, less than 150 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of the capital.
“At least seven security personnel including a police official embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and five others were injured due to firing by unknown assailants near Wazirabad,” the military said in a statement.
A rescue party had reportedly camped by a river to look for the body of a pilot missing in a helicopter crash in May, the statement said, and the camp came under attack from “unknown assailants”.
LATEST/BRIEF NEWS:
· 6 military officials martyred in attack
· Indian plane’s landing in Nawabshah
· Nato supplies: DPC long-march kicks off
· US-Pak putting tensions behind them
· Rain delays play in Pak-S. Lanka Test
· NASA Mars images ''next best thing to being there''
· Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf
says the government will encourage private sector to play leading role in the
economy.
· President Asif Ali Zardari has
convened a high level meeting in Karachi on today to review the arrangements to
cope with possible flood situation.
· DPC long march streams to Islamabad
· PM directs best treatment for Abdul Sattar Edhi
· Pakistan faces threat of losing $1b annual export to EU: PEW
Business News:
EXCHANGE FOR CURRENCY
NOTES:
U.S.A 95.14
S.Arabia 25.37
U.K 147.73
Japan 1.1899
Euro 117.79
U.A.E 25.90
BULLION RATES IN
RUPEES
PER 10 GRAMS
KARACHI
Gold Tezabi (24-ct) Rs 49,285
Silver Tezabi Rs
822.89
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No comments:
Post a Comment