Australia’s FM announces $ 19 M aid for Pakistan

Visiting Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop Wednesday announced a $19 million aid package for Pakistan that includes help for border areas hit by conflict and natural disasters.

Bishop made the pledge during a two-day visit to Islamabad where she held talks with her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz on efforts to counter militancy, the future of Afghanistan and the reported rise of the Islamic State group in the region.

The aid package includes $8 million to help restore infrastructure damaged by floods and conflict in the restive northwest and southwest, and around $8 million to support a trade initiative in partnership with the World Bank. It has not yet been announced where the remaining assistance will be spent.

In his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Islamabad, Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz briefed the visiting dignitary on Pakistan’s relations with neighbouring India and Afghanistan and asked Australia to provide greater market access to its products in the Australian market.

Both the sides agreed to further strengthen their relations in diverse fields including trade and economy.

Later addressing a joint news conference along with Australian counterpart, Sartaj Aziz said Pakistan and Australia enjoyed excellent relations which were based on mutual respect and shared interests.

He said the two sides had agreed to further consolidate the existing friendly people-to-people contacts, underpinned by the presence of 80,000 strong Pakistani diaspora and around 13,000 Pakistani students in Australia.

He said their talks focused on the need for regular political exchanges between the two countries including high level visits. “We feel that exchange of parliamentary visits is important. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit Australia this year or early next year,” he added.

Appreciating Australian development cooperation programme for Pakistan, Aziz said Pakistan intended to strengthen interaction with Australia in agriculture, livestock and water resource management. “We want both the countries to focus more on sports and culture.”

The advisor said both the countries shared common perceptions in combating terrorism. “We have resolved to continue our cooperation in countering terrorism and transnational crimes.”

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the two countries “have common interests in countering transnational crimes including drug- and human-smuggling”. Bishop said she would also encourage Australian tourism to Pakistan which had been battling an insurgency for over a decade.

“People-to-people links are important and of course we want to see Pakistan as a safe and secure environment so that you can engage international visitors,” she said.

Responding to a question, the Australian foreign minister recognised the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the war on terror. She said under a plan her country was sending Australian students to different countries including Pakistan. These visits of their students would give a message to the world that Pakistan was a place to visit. She said his country wanted a peaceful and safe Pakistan.

She said it was vital for the region that both Pakistan and Afghanistan work together to manage the porous border and effectively fight the menace of terrorism. Voicing concerns over the rise of terror outfit Daish, the Australian foreign minister described the outfit as more dangerous and brutal. She said her country was working with the international community to fight such terror outfits. She said her country was also hosting a summit in June on countering extremism.

When asked about Australian-India civil nuclear cooperation, the Australian foreign minister pointed out that her country was a power house and wanted to export energy to the world. She said currently both Australia and India were negotiating the deal. She, however, said her country would extend the facility to India under strict controls.

On the issue of Kashmir dispute, Julie Bishop admitted the issue needed to be resolved. She said her country would encourage both Pakistan and India to resolve the dispute through negotiations.

In her meeting with Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan in Punjab House Islamabad, both the leaders reiterated their commitment to strengthen their cooperation in all possible areas including further strengthening operational cooperation and intelligence sharing, immigration and border control and capacity building of law enforcing agencies.

The two leaders discussed a whole gamut of Pak-Australian bilateral relations ranging from the existing cooperation between the two countries in the ongoing fight against militancy and terrorism to the capacity building of the law-enforcement authorities of Pakistan in critical areas of intelligence gathering, investigation and prosecution of criminals. Mutual cooperation on curbing transnational crimes, checking human smuggling, money laundering, border management and regional situation also came under discussion.

At the outset of the meeting Foreign Minister Ms Julie Bishop appreciated the efforts of Pakistani government, armed forces and the people of Pakistan in the ongoing fight against militants and observed that the Australian government and the people greatly appreciate countless sacrifices of Pakistan in an effort to make the region and the world safe from the menace of terrorism. She said the Australian government would continue to provide all possible assistance to the government and the people of Pakistan in their fight against militancy.

The two leaders also resolved to promote frequent interactions at all levels so as to forge a close working relationship for overcoming the issue of mutual concern.

The Australian FM is expected to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif today (Thursday). She would also visit Lahore and meet with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. She is scheduled to inaugurate a project funded by the Australian government.

The foreign minister’s visit comes nearly two months after Pakistan and Australia agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of defence and security including military training.