By NNN-APP,
Washington : Pakistan has rendered countless sacrifices in fighting the scourge of terrorism and made the world a safer place with it relentless anti-terror endeavor, Islamabad’s ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani told a gathering of scholars at the Center for Empowered Living and Learning in Denver.
Haqqani particularly spotlighted Pakistan’s success in this summer’s Swat operation in which the infrastructure of the militants has been completely decimated and normalcy restored in the Malakand Division.
He appreciated the United States’ support for the massive efforts Pakistan launched to address the critical humanitarian situation, erupting due to a huge influx of internally displaced persons from the northwestern Swat and other adjoining valleys.
Defeating terrorism, he pointed out, requires not only a military strategy but also policy to win hearts and minds of the local people. While condemning terrorism unequivocally, he said excessive use of force can ignite this menace, rather than eliminating it. He said a successful anti-terror strategy must combine social and political dimensions.
Haqqani said Pakistan is passing through a transformation and has become a responsible regional player, pursuing a foreign and security policies that can lead to peace and cooperation.
“Pakistan’s various security concerns need to be fully appreciated by the global community and the country’s conventional capabilities need to be strengthened by the U.S. to enable Pakistan to decisively defeat militants” he added.
On reinforcing Pakistan-US ties, he advocated that the relationship between the countries should be transformed from focusing on security issues to a long-term, broad-based and multifaceted partnership.
He reiterated Islamabad’s determination to continue its fight against militancy and implement policies that can help bring peace in the region.
Democracy is a perfect antidote to terrorism and the present government is working to strengthen the civilian democratic institutions in the country, Haqqani stated.
Haqqani emphasized that an early passage of the Kerry-Lugar assistance bill will help the government of Pakistan to work on the programs to alleviate poverty in the country.
He hoped that the assistance allocated in the bill will be disbursed through the Government of Pakistan.