Musharraf, Blair Meet: Reiterate Resolve to Combat Terrorism                
By Khawaja Ahsan Paul ‘Pakistan Times’ Punjab Bureau Chief

LAHORE: President General Pervez Musharraf and British Prime Minister Tony Blair Sunday reiterated their firm determination to counter terrorism and extremism in all its forms and manifestations.

The two leaders expressed their resolve to support forces emphasizing moderation over confrontation and extremism, said a joint declaration issued after the meeting here.

President Musharraf and the British Prime Minister agreed to support civil society and youth interaction between Pakistan and the UK to develop a unified response to this end.

They held talks on bilateral relations and international issues, ranging from the importance of further augmenting trade and education ties to the challenges of countering terrorism and extremism and addressing the underlying conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism.

Both the leaders agreed that on these and many other issues, the two governments would need to work increasingly closely together for many years to come.

Pakistan and the UK have a shared history and a common vision of partnership for global peace and prosperity in the 21st century, the joint declaration said.

Their relationship is an enduring one based on mutual trust and respect and grounded in a strong and abiding partnership.

Both the leaders underlined the deep ties between their countries, strengthened by the approximately one million British citizens of Pakistani heritage in the UK.

The President and the Prime Minister expressed their determination to continue to work together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

To this end, they welcomed the signing of a “Development Partnership Arrangement” signifying a 10-year commitment by the UK government to support Pakistan government.

The Prime Minister undertook to double the UK’s development assistance over the next three years - from 236 million pound to 480 million pounds - to bolster Pakistan government’s efforts for reducing poverty.

Prime Minister Blair and the President agreed that a strong educational system was essential to enhance Pakistan’s human development, economic growth and the prosperity of all its people.

Enlightened Moderation

This will promote the climate for enlightened moderation to which the President and the Prime Minister both aspire not just in Pakistan but also globally.

Both the leaders also welcomed an increase in the number of UK-Pakistan University partnership from 15 to 50 which will enhance mutual understanding.

They agreed to hold a joint higher education forum in Pakistan in the early 2007 to discuss the education reform agenda and further collaborative work including faculty exchanges and fellowships.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Blair further agreed to strengthen the regular dialogue between the two governments through establishing a joint working group between the Interior Ministry of Pakistan and the Home Office in UK to strengthen co-operation on counter narcotics, counter terrorism,illegal immigration and transnational organised crime.

The first meeting of this working group will take place in Islamabad in January next, said the joint statement.

Prime Minister Blair and President Musharraf also reaffirmed the importance of bringing stability and economic progress to Afghanistan.

They recognised that security is crucial to Afghanistan’s progress and pledged to work together with the government of Afghanistan and other international partners to curb the violence through effective action against militant Taliban.

The two governments will contribute on a sustained basis to implementation of the Afghanistan compact including on economic reconstruction and counter narcotics, said the joint statement.

The Prime Minister and the President expressed their determination to enhance further the trade ties between the two countries. Bilateral trade has increased by two thirds in the last three years.

Both the leaders praised the ongoing work of the Pakistan-Britain Trade and Investment Forum and Pakistan-Britain Advisory Group in promoting increasingly close trade ties.

Pakistan’s Economy

The British Prime Minister welcomed the continued rapid growth of Pakistan’s economy which remains one the fast growing in the world.

Both leaders agreed to strengthen already close and wide ranging defence relationship including through increased high level visits and exchanges to Pakistan and the UK.

Both sides welcomed the annual meetings of the Defence Co-operation Forum and looked forward to expanding its remit, said the joint statement.

Prime Minister Blair warmly thanked President Musharraf for Pakistan’s important role in helping to foil the Heathrow bomb plot in August last. Tony Blair expressed gratitude for the increasingly close cooperation of the relevant Pakistan authorities with judicial cases in the UK.

The Prime Minister offered President Pervez Musharraf the United Kingdom’s full support in countering terrorism including exchanges on forensic training, investigating financing of terrorism and sharing of crisis management expertise.

Tony Blair paid tributes to the statesmanship of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in seeking to resolve outstanding issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.

The Prime Minister noted the progress that had been made by both the leaders since the establishment of composite dialogue in January 2004 and welcomed the meeting of the two foreign secretaries, as a part of that process on November 14 last.

The prime minister expressed his hope that the joint mechanism established in Havana on September 16 would yield concrete results.

Both the leaders underlined the need for resuming the Middle East peace process at the earliest opportunity and for a just and lasting settlement of the Palestine dispute.

The President and the Prime Minister agreed to hold the fourth Pakistan-UK Summit meeting in London in 2007 on a mutually
convenient date.

The two leaders further agreed on the need for a fair international trading regime, emphasising early revival of the WTO Doha Development Agenda. They also welcomed the signing of a cultural Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries to build ties.

The Prime Minister announced that the UK would deliver two M1 17 helicopters to Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force in April next for using in their anti-smuggling operation, particularly along the Pak-Afghan border.

The President welcomed cooperation between Pakistan and UK on counter narcotics and expressed the hope that it would lead to more prosecution of high value targets. The two leaders underlined the importance of regional cooperation in achieving lasting results.

In-depth

President General Pervez Musharraf Sunday underlined the need for political and economic measures alongwith military action for defeating militant Taliban and bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan.

“We believe that there is requirement of massive inflow of development funds there, some kind of Marshal plan,... billions of dollars should be put in there, for reconstruction efforts in South Eastern Region (Afghanistan) which is under turmoil at the moment,” he said while addressing a joint press conference with visiting British Prime Minister, Tony Blair at Governor House here Sunday afternoon.

Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, Pakistani High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, Dr. Maleeha Lodhi and senior officials were also present on the occasion.

President Musharraf said that the war on terrorism in Afghanistan could not be won by military action alone. “ We have to come up with a broader strategy and this strategy must involve political elements and reconstruction and development,” he said.

Responding to a question, he said , “I never said that war against Taliban is unwinable. I never believe in accepting defeat before an enemy. We must win it (war against terrorism),” Musharraf said.

He said that Taliban problem was an Afghan problem, adding that its solution lies in what was done in Afghanistan and not what was being done in Pakistan.

“Pakistan is certainly taking action here against elements which are supporting whatever is happening in South Eastern region of Afghanistan,” President said.

He said that Pakistan was doing much more than its capacity.

“We have suffered casualties. We have suffered about 600 dead. Now if you think that we are suffering dead by not doing any thing, or not doing enough, then we are not seeing reality,” he said.

He said that there was a need to look at realities, keep re-adjusting strategies, keep finding new solutions to the problem and that is what Pakistan is doing.

“Our desires and our intentions are very clear. We have to fight terrorism and extremism. We have to fight militant Taliban,” he said.

He said that Pakistan was the only country which is trying to implement the whole package which meant addressing all the aspects including military, political, administrative and also reconstruction.

“More actions are required on Afghanistan side because the war would be won on Afghanistan side. Because Taliban problem is on Afghanistan side and the battle has to be won on Afghanistan side,” President said.

President Musharraf said that Pakistan was against terrorism, extremism and Talebanization.

“Pakistanis are against any kind of Talebanization that is backward culture of rejecting democracy and imposing very obscurantistic kind of culture on our society,” he said.

He said that even in Afghanistan, people would not like it, adding that Pakistan rejected Talebanization.

President Musharraf said that the resolution of Palestine issue would help overcome what was happening in Iraq and Lebanon and Afghanistan besides creating effect against international terrorism.

Talking about his meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Musharraf said that there was consensus of views on the issues of bilateral and international nature.

He said that the ways to increase Pak-British trade and economic relations was also discussed on this occasion.

He hoped that the meeting with British Prime Minister would go a long way in strengthening Pak-British relations.

On Pakistan-India relations, President Musharraf said he also informed the British Prime Minister about efforts to resolve issues including Siachen, Sir Creek and Kashmir.

Prime Minister Blair said both United Kingdom and Pakistan were facing the threats of terrorism and extremism, adding that the cooperation with Pakistan in dealing with these issues had increased over the past two years.

To check terrorism and extremism, Blair said that there was a need to take necessary security measures and support the democratic will of the people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Referring to the debate on the ways to tackle global terrorism, he said that the solution to this problem had different aspects.

“Some of which pertain to security and some of which are ideas which challenge the ideology of extremism and some of which have to do with reconstruction and development with economic progress,” Tony Blair said.

British Prime Minister appreciated President Musharraf’s vision of enlightened moderation to counter terrorism and extremism.

Responding to a question, Prime Minister Blair said it would take some time to defeat terrorism in Afghanistan.

“But sooner we start fighting the battle to defeat it, the sooner we will achieve victory in it,” he maintained.

He said that Afghan people had rejected Taliban culture in the recently held elections.

About NATO’s efforts to combat terrorism and extremism in Afghanistan, he said that NATO’s summit meeting being held this month would analyse what more was need to be done in Afghanistan.

“There is no doubt about our commitment, what we are doing to support Afghanistan,” he added.

He said that reconstruction and development was need to be done alongwith security measures in Afghanistan.

Blair said that Pakistan like Britain and other countries also wanted to see stability in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the United Kingdom supported Pakistan’s economic development.

He said that his country also was supporting the reforms Pakistan was making in different sector especially the education system.

Referring to doubling of development assistance to Pakistan, Blair said that the international community should get behind Pakistan for economic development.

He said that Pakistan had made a lot of economic progress over the last two years, adding that there had been significant reduction in poverty while the per capita income doubled during this period.

He said that the relations between Pakistan and UK were at the highest point for many years. “ We are seeing strengthening of relations at every level,” British Prime Minister said.

Lauding the policies of President Pervez Musharraf, Blair said that President Musharraf was taking Pakistan on the journey of change and modernization and added that this process would prove a role model for other Muslim countries.

He said that the number of UK-Pakistan University partnership had been increased to 50 from the previous level of 15.

He said that the establishment of new universities in Pakistan with the help of foreign universities would have very good impact on Pakistan’s education sector and the economy.

He also appreciated President Musharraf for his work and relationship with India and added that all outstanding issues including Kashmir needed to be addressed in a different and better way.

To a question about Iran’s nuke issue, he said that Iran should abide by obligations of IAEA and the United Nations.●