By APP
Washington : Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Wednesday said the United States has been in consistent contact with Pakistan on dealing with violent extremism along its border with Afghanistan as she acknowledged complexity of the challenge on the rugged border. She said the US has also worked with both South Asian neighbors to muster tribal support to address the problem.
Rice was testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on the State, Foreign Relations and Related Programs in her last appearance as Secretary of State for the FY 2009 budget.
“We have been consistently talking to the Pakistanis how they can do more and how we can help them to do more,” she told lawmakers in response to a question about the situation in North Waziristan area. At the same time, Rice underscored that it is important to recognize that North Waziristan tribal area has been historically ungoverned.
“It is a border that is very difficult to deal with because there are familiar relations across that border.”
Continuing, Rice said “We’ve worked with the Afghans and the Pakistanis to try to mobilize tribal support through the local loya jirga to deal with both sides of the border.”
She stated dealing with the problem requires enhancing Pakistan’s capabilities and added the Pakistanis are aware that they have to do something to deal with the problem. However, she said “getting capabilities there is not an easy matter.”
Rice said an agreement reached in the tribal area a couple of years ago did not work.
The FY 2009 budget request for all Department of State appropriations totals $11.456 billion and Dr Rice urged the lawmakers to support the State Department’s efforts in strategic U.S. engagement abroad through public diplomacy and multilateral diplomacy.
The US administration has sought $ 830 million for Pakistan under foreign operations assistance in the new fiscal year beginning October 1, 2008. The amount includes security assistance, economic support funds, social sector development support and $ 150 million in support of Pakistan’s socio-economic development plan for federally administered tribal areas along the Afghan border.