Pakistanis say no to Talibanization: Qureshi

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday that a broad-based consensus was slowly but surely emerging in Pakistan against the attempts to Talibalize the country and in favour of a system that is moderate, Islamic and progressive. "Talibalization is unacceptable to the people of Pakistan," he told a large number of cheering Pakistani-Americans ahead of President Asif Ali Zardari's address. The people want to live in a Pakistan, which is in accordance with the vision of Quaid-e-Azam and that of Allama Iqbal and the 1973 constitution given by the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. "Baitullah Mehsud's vision has been rejected," he added. Discussing President Zardari's talks in Washington, he said that Pakistan's stress for a comprehensive regional approach to combat extremism had been accepted and that President Barack Obama had quoted from some parts of the Pakistani paper. The foreign minister made it clear that Pakistan would not allow foreign troops to operate on its soil, as it was a matter of the country's sovereignty. He also criticized the drone attacks, saying Pakistan had asked the United States for the technology so that Pakistan forces could take action against militants. Pakistan also hoped to receive helicopters and night-vision goggles to deal with the extremists as also commitments of stepped up aid. Legislation to triple non-military aid to Pakistan over the next five years had already been introduced in the Senate. The aid period would be extended to 10 years.

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