Ambassador Holbrook calls on the President
Drone attacks, new screening regime, war against militancy, ROZs, Coalition Support Funds arrears and economic assistance figure in talks
US Envoy assures review of new screening regime, immediate release of 349 million dollars in CSF and 125 million dollars for Tarbela power station up gradation 
 
LondonPPP: Special Envoy of the US President for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrook today called on the President Mr. Asif Ali Zardari in the Governor House Lahore Friday where he also had lunch with the President.
 
Richard Holbrook was accompanied with the US Ambassador in Islamabad Anne W. Petterson and senior US official accompanying the Special Envoy. Malik Hammad Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Secretary General to the President Salman Farooqui and Secretary Foreign Affairs Salman Bashir besides other senior officials were also present in the meeting.
 
Bilateral matters including drone attacks, the new US screening regime and issues relating to fight against militants, rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs), Pakistan’s energy needs and strengthening of civil law enforcing agencies were discussed in the meeting.
 
Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah said that the President impressed upon the U.S. Envoy the need for basing the partnership between the two countries on mutual respect, trust and interest. In this context the new US screening regime also came under discussion. The President expressed reservations over the new screening regime for Pakistani nationals and said that it had generated resentment in the country and needed to be reviewed, the spokesperson said.
 
The President welcomed US affirmation of commitment to Pakistan’s stability, security and prosperity and said that it must be based on mutual respect and trust. He said that democratic stability in Pakistan is contingent upon advancement of our development agenda in which the US and other industrialized countries could play a great role.
 
Farhatullah Babar said that the President also called for allowing greater market access to Pakistani goods in the U.S. and European markets.
 
Pakistan‘s industrial growth and export potential had been severely restricted first because the region was a theatre of war against the rival ideology in the past and secondly due to rising militancy in the country as a consequence of the first, the President said.
 
He said that as a result Pakistan became a security driven state neglecting social and human uplift. The President said that the international community now owed it to Pakistan and to itself to help rebuild the country.
 
He said that if these factors had not hampered the country’s progress Pakistan today would not have been faced with the type of economic problems it is faced with today.
 
The President impressed upon the American Envoy the need for early adoption of legislation in the US on Reconstruction Opportunity Zones(RoZs) to give the needed relief to the tribal people in their search for economic well being and social and political stability to counter forces of extremism and militancy. The President said that the people of Pukhtoonkhwah and FATA were enterprising and if assisted the area and its people could be transformed into a bulwark against extremism.
 
The President said that Pakistan needed a Marshal Plan to overcome its economic problems compounded by the fight against militancy and urged the international community to come forward to help Pakistan. The President said that the Friends of Democratic Pakistan needed to translate into practice the pledges of economic and financial support to Pakistan.
 
Halbrook said that the purpose of his visit was to refocus US policy publicly about the region and on the support to Pakistan.
 
While appreciating US assistance to Pakistan the President called for channeling assistance through the government in accordance with our priorities and programs ensuring transparency, accountability and efficacy in terms of results.
 
The President said that the economic cost of the war against terror amounting to US $ 35 billion for the last eight years has almost paralyzed Pakistan ’s economy.
 
The President also drew attention towards payments of over 1.3 billion dollars due to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund. “Pakistan has been facing delays in payments of coalition support Fund claims”, the President said and urged for timely reimbursement of CSF.
 
Referring to the new Afghan strategy of the US the President said that Pakistan has legitimate interests in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan and urged that US must remain sensitive to Pakistan’s core national interests and concerns. US actions should remain on the Afghan side of the border, he added.
 
The President also pointed out that drone attacks on Pakistani territory undermined the national consensus against the war on militancy .He renewed Pakistan’s call for giving it the done technology so that the militants could be targeted by Pakistan’s national security forces themselves rather than by foreign troops which raised questions of sovereignty.
 
The US Envoy assured President Zardari that the US government had agreed to review the screening regime and the Secretary Homeland Security would be personally looking into it.
 
About the Coalition ‘Support Fund reimbursements Richard Holbrook said that 349 million dollars will be released immediately while reimbursement of the balance amount will be put on the fast track.
 
Responding to the President’s call to address the energy crisis in the country in the country on priority basis the meeting was informed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had approved 125 million dollars for the up gradation of Tarbela hydroelectric station, the spokesperson said.
 
The Special Envoy appreciated Pakistan’s role in the war against extremism and militancy and assured full support in taking this war to the logical end. 
 

President meets Chambers of Commerce and industry of Lahore and Sialkot  Says civil and military leaders have harmonious perspectives on issues of national security. Outlines tripod of economic policy 

LONDON PPP:- President Asif Ali Zardari today said that the civil and military leadership had harmonized their perspectives on issues of national security.
 
He said this while addressing separate meetings of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry Lahore and Sialkot in the Governor House Lahore on the third day of his visit to the provincial capital.
 
The President said that the government is committed to banish militancy for ever and restore law and order throughout the country and create a congenial environment for sustained economic growth.
 
Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the President also paid tributes to the armed forces and the civil law enforcing agencies for confronting the terrorists with courage and conviction and forcing them to retreat regaining the space for investment and development.
 
Banishing militancy forever and restoration of law and order throughout the country was critical to sustained economic growth in the country, the President said.
 
Paying tributes to the armed forces the President said that the armed forces and civilian law enforcing agencies had made huge sacrifices for fighting militancy and in creating a congenial atmosphere for investment and development.
 
The nation was proud of their achievements in this unconventional war which, the President said, was being fought with the full support and backing of the people.
 
The President said that it was a lesson of history that wars are won by peoples and nations when they stand solidly with their armed forces as was being witnessed in the country.
 
This harmony, the President said, was evident by the honors showered on our Shaheeds and their families both by the nation and armed forces alike. It is also evident from the way the civil and military leaders have harmonized their perspectives on issues of national security in the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Farhatullah Babar quoted the President as saying.
 
It is a result of the heroism of the our valiant defence forces backed by the sacrifices of the people that the militants had been driven out from Swat and Malakand and contained in South Waziristan Agency, he said.
 
The President also elaborated upon the government’s policy framework for economic rejuvenation. The tripod of economic strategy rested on private-public partnership; switch over to bio-fuel and optimal utilization of scarce water resources along with new hybrid seeds for increasing agricultural produce by an order of magnitude, the President said.
 
The President urged the businessmen and entrepreneurs to make use of the space regained and the investment policies adopted by the government for accelerating the economic and industrial growth.
 
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Agha Tanveer Iqbal
Secretary Information
Pakistan Peoples Party
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