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| India-Pakistan |
| Zardari, Gilani, Kayani deliberate on Pak-US Strategic Dialogue |
| 2010-10-17 |
| Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called on President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday and deliberated on matters relating to the forthcoming Pak-US strategic dialogue. Defence Minister Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar and Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh were also present during the meeting besides Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Finance Secretary Salman Siddique. Briefing the media, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting was held to deliberate upon the forthcoming Pak-US strategic dialogue that is scheduled to be held in Washington soon. He said that the last round of Pak-US Strategic Dialogue was held in Islamabad in July last to intensify strategic engagement and pursue comprehensive sectoral track cooperation. Spokesperson said, democratic government wanted to pursue multi-faceted comprehensive cooperation between two countries while at same time address issues like access to drone technology, reimbursement of coalition support fund arrears and RoZ legislation. He said that the challenges being faced by the two countries vis-Ã -vis the security situation and promotion of intelligence sharing mechanism and the capacity enhancement of the security forces would also come under discussion during the strategic dialogue. The President has all along maintained that Pakistan had suffered a colossal loss, both in human and material losses due to the ongoing fight against militancy and the recent devastating floods which further added to the economic woes. He said the situation calls for the help of the international community especially the US to support Pakistan and advocate its case for having greater access to its products in the international markets. The President said that he had been urging US visitors to use their influence in expediting ROZs legislation and for helping Pakistan in creating new vistas of opportunities for the flood-affected people. The President expressed hope that discussions during the forthcoming dialogue would be productive and help carry forward the progress made so far in the mutually agreed areas of cooperation in which Pakistan needs more help from the United States. |
| Posted by:Pappy |