By KUNA,
London : British Prime Minister David Cameron was Thursday urging EU leaders to back a major new trade partnership between Europe and Pakistan in the wake of the worst floods in the country’s history, Downing Street said. He will tell a summit in Brussels that the scale of the disaster warrants a response far beyond the vital immediate humanitarian effort. In a letter to summit chairman Herman Van Rompuy ahead of the one-day meeting, the Prime Minister called for “an ambitious new partnership between the EU and Pakistan on serious economic reform and trade, the benefits of which will be worth far more to Pakistan than even a sizeable aid package”. At least 1,600 people have died and 20 million been left homeless after monsoon rains caused widespread devastation and led to fears that the scale of the damage could trigger economic collapse. Cameron wants the summit to make a firm pledge for “longer-term development assistance which properly reflects the enormity of the challenges facing Pakistan”. He also wants to see “a concrete political commitment from the EU to Pakistan to enhance significantly its access to the EU market in the short term”. The summit will look at admitting Pakistan to a group of countries which already get preferential access to EU markets in return for meeting certain economic and political criteria – an arrangement seen as part of the EU’s role in stabilising countries and promoting democracy, officials said. This could benefit Pakistan by around a billion euro (832 million pounds) a year, but would take time to negotiate. An alternative, swifter solution would be to reduce trade tariffs levied on Pakistan for certain goods – or suspending tariffs altogether, which would require World Trade Organisation approval. But one UK Government source said: “We expect some resistance from member states to these proposals. There is a challenging economic climate in Europe and some voices are resistant to opening up markets further to additional competition.” The main summit topic is supposed to be “relations with strategic partners” – a look at the EU’s role on the world stage. The EU’s foreign affairs chief, Baroness Cathy Ashton will report to the leaders on the state of relations with China, Russia and America. But the state of relations with a country closer to home – France – may sour the mood, thanks to growing tensions over the French policy of deporting Roma ethnic minority communities, commentators said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is furious with the European Commission after Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding described the policy as a “disgrace” and called for legal action.