President Asif Ali Zardari while addressing the 4th conference of the South Asia Free Media Association titled Setting a National Agenda on Media, Democracy and Good Governance said that we would not allow a handful of extremists to use Pakistani soil against any country.
Special reference was given to Mumbai attacks, and the President highlighted that Pakistan had gone out of the way to address the grievances raised by India. However, the Indian response has not been positive. Pakistan is already dealing with an internal enemy and is doing its best to control militancy in tribal areas. The SAARC, being an important regional organization, needs to be strengthened so that real cooperation between the member countries can help Pakistan in exerting complete control over this problem.
Presently, Pakistan is facing numerous problems, ranging from a weak economy to terrorism to dealing with the flood affected population. It is important for all the regional players to support Pakistan in this regard, instead of undermining its efforts.
F SARWAR
Islamabad
