Pakistan urges US to respect parliament’s decisions

Pakistan on Friday asked the United States to fully appreciate and follow the democratic course that the Pakistani government had adopted on new terms of engagements with Washington as indicated by the Parliament and help it in reaching the closure on Salala episode.
In separate meetings held with Ambassador Marc Grossman, US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani asked the US delegates to work for bridging the trust-deficit between the two states as this held the key to Pakistan’s re-joining the counter-terrorism cooperation with the US/NATO forces.
In his meeting with Marc Grossman held at the Presidency, Zardari said after Pakistan had followed the democratic course for re-engagement with the United States to be based on transparency, mutual interest and respect, it was now the US’ turn to fully appreciate the democratic course and to help Pakistan in reaching closure on Salala by helping the Pakistani government follow the path as indicated by the parliament.
Ambassador Grossman was accompanied by US Ambassador Cameron Munter, Assistant Secretary for Asia & Pacific Security Affairs Dr Peter Lavoy and other officials. The Pakistani side included Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Sheikh, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Secretary General Salman Farooqui, Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani, Ambassador to US Sherry Rehman, Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, ISI DG Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam and spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar.
Babar later told reporters that the president emphasized on the need for evolving a mechanism for counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. He said bridging the trust-deficit held the key to Pakistan re-joining the counter-terrorism cooperation.
Pakistan and the US, the president said, shared many important areas where there was convergence of mutual interests. He said the most notable among those were the goals of stability and peace in Afghanistan and the complete defeat of al Qaeda. The president said Pakistan had always maintained that drone attacks were highly counter productive in the war against militants as they inflamed public sentiments due to innocent civilian casualties.
He said both sides should consider setting up a framework of mechanism to find a mutually acceptable alternative.
Zardari said Pakistan wanted to re-engage with the US at all levels in the light of the parliamentary review and was committed to providing assistance to the international presence in Afghanistan. However, the international community should share the financial and economic cost of services and goods involved in the process.
He said with the Defence Committee of the Cabinet’s proceedings underway, “we have already initiated inter-agency consultation process and broad parameters have been developed for an agreement on ISAF/NATO supplies through Pakistan”. The president also emphasized upon the early resolution of the issue of reimbursement of CSF arrears. He said the CSF reimbursements were a sticking point in the relationship which needed to be addressed urgently. Zardari said Pakistan needed more attention in areas of energy generation, infrastructure development, water management and social and human development. The president also invited the US delegation attention towards Pakistan’s need for more market access for its products in the US market through preferential trade tariff.