Peace in Afghanistan ‘common aspiration’ of Pakistan and US: Pak diplomat

CHICAGO, Dec 3 (APP):A senior Pakistani diplomat has underscored the need for the United States and Pakistan to work together for a political settlement in the war-torn Afghanistan, saying it was vital for regional peace.
“Peace and stability in Afghanistan is the common aspiration of Pakistan and the United States,” Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, the Consul General of Pakistan in Chicago, told a conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UICUC).
The conference on “70 Years of Pakistan-US Relations” was organized by the University’s Center for South
Asian and Middle Eastern studies.
Also participating in the conference were Asad Umar, Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan; Professor Hadi Esfahani, Director of the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, UICUC; Professor Jeffrey Brown, Dean of the School of Business, UICUC; Rizwan Uddin, a professor at UICUC; Naeem Shekhani, President of
APPNA; Irfan Ahmed, Director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, UICUC; Farhat Haq, Chair of the Political Science Department, UICUC; J. Mark Keynoyer, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Arif Masud, Professor and Robert H. Dodds Faculty Scholar, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UICUC and Shahbaz Gill, South Asian Programme Adviser at UICUC.
Besides discussing US-Pakistan bilateral relations, the scholars, students, researchers and journalists also
talked about economic, social and political developments in Pakistan.
In his presentation, Consul General Tirmizi briefed the participants about the background, ups and downs and current state of the relationship between the two countries. Though Pakistan and the United States have a long list
of cooperative ties, their relationship assumed greater importance after the 1979 Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan, he said. Further, Pakistan’s role in global war against terrorism drew special attention of US policy makers.
Tirmizi highlighted the sacrifices and efforts made by Pakistan in combatting terrorists, saying the country had suffered huge losses. Pakistan’s armed forces, intelligence agencies, Frontier Corps, Frontier Constabulary and
police had fought bravely in destroying the terrorists’ strongholds.
While talking about the ‘multifaceted’ Pakistan-US relations, he said that Washington accepted Pakistan’s key
role for the stability and security in the region. He particularly referred to Pakistan’s role in promoting the US-China rapprochement and helping US defeat communism. He also spoke about Pakistan’s initiative in establishing first
direct contact between the Afghan Government and Taliban in collaboration with the US and China in July 2014. However, that initiative was sabotaged by forces inimical to seeing peace in Afghanistan and the region, he said.
The consul general also referred to the contribution made by the United Sates for Pakistan’s economic and
social development by building dams and and establishing educational linkages, such as the big Fulbright programme
to which the Government of Pakistan was also contributing US$ 5 million a year for the next five years.
MNA Asad Umar spoke about the immense investment opportunities in Pakistan, saying the country was a
market of 207 million people with two and a half times per capita consumption compared to India.
Mark Kanoyer, Professor of Anthropology University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that the rich history of
Indus Valley Civilization and creation of number zero in mathematics was a gift of the people of that civilization to
the world as was domesticated chicken, cow, barley, wheat and mango.
Dr Arif Masud, Professor and Robert H. Dodds Faculty Scholar, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering UICUC, spoke about ongoing collaboration between Pakistan and the US in the field of civil
engineering and architecture and underscored the need for more collaboration between universities of both
countries.
He also stressed the need to increase education budget of the country especially that of higher education.