US pledges to strengthen Pakistan, help overcome challenges

WASHINGTON - Hailing recent progress in the US-Pakistani strategic partnership as "tremendous step foward," the Obama Administration on Monday assured Islamabad of robust cooperation in dealing with the key regional country's economic, water and energy challenges. Richard Holbrooke, the United States' Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, also praised Pakistan's vital efforts in curbing miliant activity along the Afghan border including the capture of Afghan Taliban figures and expressed understanding of Islamabad's regional security concerns.

"I want to assure that led by President (Barack) Obama and the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, we are putting more and more emphasis on energy and water issues and we will continue to do that up to absolute limits of what Congress will fund. It is a big issue," Holbrooke said, recognizing the priority Pakistani people assign to addressing immediate economic, energy and water problems.

The American diplomat was speaking during the course of a conversation hosted by Chairman of the World Affairs Councils of America Marc Grossman on the Obama Administration's work in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Stressing cooperative ties with Islamabad, he said the Obama Administration has already committed to supporting energy projects and some water projects are also in the works.

"Today, we feel there has been a lot of improvement" in US-Pakistan relations, Holbrooke declared in comparison with the state of relations between the two countries before the Obama Administration took over. Holbrooke described the strategic dialogue last month - co-chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi - as a "tremendous step fowrard."

The dialogue is a "demonstration how much importance we attach to the US-Pakistan relations," he added.

The next session of the strategic dialogue will be "repeated in Islamabad later this year, early next year," the diplomat stated, stressing it "is part of a tremendous increase in US-Pakistani relations on their own."

Besides working bilateraly, Washington is also supporting Pakistan in its programs with international financial institutions including the IMF and also led efforts at a major Tokyo conference to commit world powers' backing for the South Asian country's conomic development plans, he noted.

"We are working with the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, in order to make sure that standby agreements are extended. We are working with the Pakistani leadership on everyone of the economic, energy and water issues we can. This is a vast undertaking, we want to do more for Pakistan. We have got a whole array of ideas here. We do work closely with the government." In answer to a question, ambassador Holbrooke touched upon challenges confronting Pakistan in the regional perspective.

"Pakistan is a complicated country that faces huge economic, energy and water problems. You mentioned nuclear weapons, it has a long-standing set of concerns vis-a-vis its giant neighbor to the east, which have to be dealt with. And it faces insurgency in the west(ern border regions), which is very dangerous both to them and the United States."

"In this overall context, the Pakistanis are dealing with their problems. But it needs our support," he remarked.

Holbrooke cited Washington's commitment based on Kerry-Lugar-Berman legislation on providing $7.5 billion economic assistance to the country over next five years. "We are looking for ways we can help Pakistan strengthen itself, strengthen democracy, and help it fight insurgents in the West (of the country along the Afghan border)."

The special envoy appreciated Pakistani army's successful anti-militant operations in Swat and other northwestern areas as well as tribal regions along the restive Afghan border, saying Pakistan army "under (Army Chief) General (Ashfaq Parvez) Kayani the army reasserted very vigorously."

He also particularly mentioned Pakistan army's role in the capture of senior Afghan Taliban leaders including Mullah Baradar.