US to help Pakistan meet water and energy needs : Holbrooke
WASHINGTON, Nov 24 (APP): Pledging U.S. support for Pakistan’s long-term economic development, the Obama Administration’s special envoy Richard Holbrooke has said America is working to help Islamabad address problems in key water and energy areas. He also told a briefing that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Pakistan last month helped lay “foundations for a partnership, a deeper, more productive, genuine partnership among two sovereign nations.”
“We are completing a new civilian
assistance program which will broaden the scope of our relations with
Pakistan and help Pakistan address its long-term development needs.
“We are working out the operationalizing of the general agreements as we speak, and we’re talking about how to improve our economic assistance and to help the overall “ the people of Pakistan in their major needs like energy
and water,” stated Holbrooke, who also introduced members of his team
working to advance relations in wide-ranging areas.
“All of this (development
cooperation) is going to complement our new public diplomacy effort,
which Judith McHale and Ashley Bommer (members of Holbrooke’s team) are
jointly spearheading. And we hope that the Pakistani people will
recognize our deep respect for their sovereignty and our deep
commitment to help them deal with the pressing problems they face,” he
added at the State Department briefing.
Ambassaodr Holbrooke, holding his
first briefing since return from visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan,
said Secretary Clinton made an extraordinary diplomatic outreach to the
Pakistanis during the visit and was welcomed as an iconic person.
“I have traveled with and watched
many secretaries of state. I have never seen a Secretary of State have
a trip in which the public diplomacy part of it was more extraordinary
than this trip. Everywhere that she went, she was greeted as an iconic
person, but then hit very aggressively on issues. And she just kept
taking the questions and making an extraordinary impact on the
Pakistani people.”
Another highlight of the visit, Holbrooke recounted, was that Secretary Clinton agreed to a new strategic dialogue.
In the previous administration, the strategic dialogue was conducted by the Deputy Secretary of State on the American side. “
“She will personally lead the
strategic dialogue ---she’s elevated the strategic dialogue with
Pakistan to the ministerial level and will personally lead it.”
Meanwhile, Holbrooke said, the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan we will continue the trilateral process.
In reply to a question, the special envoy said no one in Pakistan, and no one in any other
country, should read the Indian prime minister’s visit to Washington in
any way as a diminution of the importance the U.S. attaches to them.
“We seek to improve our relations
with Pakistan. We seek to improve our relations with China. We seek to
improve our relations with India.
This is not a zero-sum gain. Every country benefits from improvement in the area.”
“We think that good relations
between the U.S. and India, and good relations between the U.S. and
Pakistan are not incompatible.”
Holbrooke, however, made it clear
the U.S. would not act as an intermediary between Pakistan and India
but would be supportive if the two countries decided on their own to
resume bilateral talks.
“ If the two countries decide to
resume talks or have any sort of talks, of course we’ll support them.
But we’re not their midwife. We’re not their intermediaries.
We are not trying to play a role that goes beyond our legitimate area of involvement,” he said.
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