Gilani, Clegg call for solution to Afghans’ woes

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Tuesday called for a solution to Afghanistan’s troubles that was generated from within but enjoyed the combined support of the United States, United Kingdom and Pakistan.
Clegg, however, termed Pakistan’s role as the “most important” in ensuring peace in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces.
Addressing a joint press briefing at Lancaster House after the two leaders held a lunch meeting, Gilani and Clegg agreed that Afghanistan had the capacity to deal with the situation on its own, but insisted that support from the US, UK and Pakistan was important for its future.
Gilani said Pakistan and Afghanistan had realised that both countries suffered a lot in the fight against terrorism. “Any process that leads to peace in [Afghanistan] would be supported by Pakistan,” said Gilani, adding that a stable Afghanistan with no interference in its internal affairs was important for regional and global peace.
Gilani termed the talks with Clegg “very good” and said they provided an opportunity to review the state of Pakistan’s relations with the UK. He reiterated the mutual resolve to take concrete steps to diversify and deepen bilateral relations in accordance with the enhanced strategic dialogue, which was launched during British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Pakistan in April this year.
He said the discussion also focused on expanding economic cooperation with over 100 British companies doing lucrative business in Pakistan. He said Pakistan was offering enormous opportunities for trade and investment to encourage other British companies to come to Pakistan.
Later, British Foreign Secretary William Hague called on Gilani and discussed matters pertaining to Pak-UK bilateral relations, strategic dialogue between the two countries, and access to EU markets for Pakistan’s goods. Collaboration between the two countries in the fields of trade and investment and education came under discussion during the meeting as well.
Gilani expressed the hope that the UK would be able to withdraw the travel advisory to its citizens regarding Pakistan, which would greatly help promote business and trade linkages between the two countries. He said he also hoped British Airways would start operations in Pakistan soon.