By NNN-APP,
London : British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said Pakistani politicians need to sink their differences and unite to tackle numerous challenges facing the South Asian country.
In a interview with BBC Radio- 4 on Friday, Miliband told the interviewer that he agrees with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani that the situation in his country is grave.
“You’ve got the combination of a political crisis precipitated by the recent Supreme Court judgment, so democratic politicians are not coming together to fight terrorism.” Miliband said.
He also spoke about economic uncertainty and a security challenge on a number of fronts and said it is intimately linked to the situation in Afghanistan.
“I think the degree of political disunity that exists at the moment is only contributing to the problem,” he said.
He said Pakistan has been hit by the global crunch in the same way that many other countries have been and added to are the security related issues.
Miliband emphasised the need of developing economic and political strategy in Federal Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) to bring it under national laws.
He noted that because female literacy is less than three per cent, there is a sense of social disintegration. He was of the view that political parties need to be allowed in FATA and the replacement of Frontier Crimes Regulation which was passed by the British in 1901 was also required.
The British Foreign Secretary said the Pakistani authorities have pursued their counterinsurgency strategy with mixed results.
Miliband who has been to Pakistan four times in the past one year said there is a need for central and provincial government to work to replace Laskar‑e‑Taiba or at least their front organisations with the arms of Pakistani state.
He advocated the need for spending more funds on social sectors including education and health.
Regarding the ongoing political problems, he said “UK has been emphasising on democratic politicians coming together in Pakistan, because we worked hard alongside many Pakistanis for the restoration of democratic rule. It’s now vital that all politicians come together to unite against the mortal threat that Pakistan faces which is a threat from its internal enemies, not its traditional external enemies.”