Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Wednesday called for more dialogue and communication at all levels between Pakistan and the United States.

Addressing a conference, he said the cooperation between the two countries was vital to defeat the menace of terrorism and bring peace and stability to Afghanistan and the region. “The fight against terrorism continues successfully and terrorist incidents have decreased by 70 percent. Now Operation Raddul Fasaad is underway to eliminate terrorists from across the country,” he said.

The adviser further said that Pakistan believed in the policy of going after terrorists without any discrimination. Aziz expressed the hope that improved security and economic situation would help further expand trade and investment relationship between Islamabad and Washington.

Speaking on the occasion, the US Ambassador David Hale stressed the need for enhanced cooperation on shared national interests to benefit the people of both the countries. He said these shared interests included fighting terrorism, fostering economic growth, investment and building a more stable and prosperous region, including in Afghanistan.

He said the United States greatly acknowledged Pakistan’s great sacrifices in this regard. The ambassador said that Pak-US ties were resilient and Pakistan’s success was of great strategic interest to the United States.

Separately, Aziz addressed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. He said that Pakistan was pursuing a policy of strengthening relations with Afghanistan.

Briefing the committee, the adviser said that Pakistan was working on modernisation of the visa system and facilities at border crossing points with Afghanistan.

He also informed the parliamentarians that Pakistan was also focusing on efforts to increase facilities for Afghan students in Pakistan’s educational institutions. He said that the government had announced another 3,000 scholarships for Afghan students in the field of higher education after utilisation of the existing 3,000 scholarships.

He said that the Afghan government was going to convene the next meeting of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Coordination Authority at the earliest for revising and strengthening the authority.

Aziz underlined the importance of close engagement between the two sides on connectivity projects in infrastructure and energy. He said that $500 million economic assistance from Pakistan could be utilised for initiating these connectivity projects.

On the issue of peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, he reiterated that there was no military solution to the Afghan conflict and there was a need for focused efforts for a politically negotiated settlement for lasting peace in Afghanistan. He said Pakistan remained committed to continued efforts for facilitating an Afghan-owned Afghan-led peace process.

Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari had chaired the meeting.

In his opening remarks, the chairman said that last year, the committee had prepared and sent several recommendations about improving Pak-Afghan relations. “We hope that the Foreign Office benefitted from these suggestions. The situation is changing at a very fast pace. Therefore, it is once again being felt that the committee should understand the Foreign Office’s views and then put their recommendations for handling the relations between the two countries,” he said.

Separately, Pakistan’s Ambassador to United States Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said that Pakistan would not allow its soil to be used against any country, adding that “we hope soil of any other country will also not be used against Pakistan”.

“To ensure peace and security in the whole region, elimination of safe havens of terrorists in Afghanistan is the need of our,” he said while talking to reporters in Washington.

“There is no military solution to Afghanistan conflict. Whenever, there was instability in Afghanistan Pakistan suffered from it,” he said.

“Pakistan wants to become part of all efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan sincerely,” he said.