Peace in Afghanistan vital for Paks stability: Miliband
Pakistan
Peace in Afghanistan vital for Paks stability: Miliband
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that Pakistans stability hinged on peace in Afghanistan, adding that UK believed in result-oriented talks with Pakistan. He expressed these views during a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad today. Strategic dialogue, London Conference on Afghanistan, defence cooperation, bilateral ties, FoDP forum, publicprivate economic partnership, sustainable aid for economic growth of Pakistan were mainly deliberated upon in todays meeting, Qureshi noted during the briefing.He hailed Pakistans role against war on terror and added that development of a country based on its security situation. He noted that UK would extend its expertise in education sector through Pak-UK Education Task Force and termed it an important step forward towards education reforms in the country. Referring to EU-Pak ties, the British Foreign Secretary said that there was great untapped potential in Pakistan in terms of trade. I am here as a European too.... It makes incumbent on us to think how EU and Pakistan work together, he added.Q&A session Replying to a question about promised aid, the Foreign Secretary said that UK was committed to fiscal support to Pakistan and was to provide 65 million pounds in three years, and assured to fulfil the promise saying that We believe in turning words into deeds and it is the basis of our bilateral ties.Terming it a significant development, the Foreign Secretary commended the national unity against war on terror. Replying to a question about threat to democracy in Pakistan, Miliband said that all friends support civilian government in Pakistan, while referring to India-Pak ties, he said that both the nations seemed committed in this regard.In reply to a question, he noted that UK has given around 34million pounds for the rehabilitation of IDPs of Swat.Answering to a question asked by Dunya News reporter Zamir Haider about the plight of arrested students on suspicions in UK and the ensuing legal complications, Miliband said that the legal proceedings took much time that was why they were detained for so long. He parried a question about Afia Siddqui, saying that this issue must be talked about carefully and added that UK was very clear about human rights.
