Loud talk sans action

ISLAMABAD Terming her visit vital, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has vowed to establish friendly relationship with Pakistan and announced a supply of 10,000 tube wells for its front line ally in global war on terror. Clinton who is currently visiting Islamabad said this while addressing a joint press briefing with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi here at Foreign Office auditorium on Wednesday. Clinton said that US wanted to establish a comprehensive relationship with Pakistan that covered a whole range of issues and which were not only important for the people of Pakistan but also for American people and were in the greater interest of the region. Apart from announcing tube wells for Pakistani people, US Secretary of State praised Pak Army and spoke well of its offensive against Taliban, especially in Waziristan. She said, Current offensive in Waziristan is of vital interest for US. We admire what the Pakistani military is doing in its fight against terror. We think it is in the interests of Pakistan to do this. So we will be meeting, talking and discussing anything you can imagine on a broad strategic dialogue between the US and Pakistan, she said. We recognise that it is very important to broaden our engagement with Pakistan. Thats exactly what Ambassador Holbrooke has been working with his team. We want to support the civilian government, deepen military-to-military co-operation and broaden information sharing between the two countries, she added. She said that she was glad to inform Pakistani people what her government and American people were doing with respect to resolving the multiple crises confronting Pakistan including power, humanitarian, energy, militancy and extremism. She added that those crises were affecting Pakistan to a great extant. We are committed to stand by people of Pakistan and the democratically elected government in their work to restore security in their country, said Clinton, adding, President Obama is determined to match our words with our actions because Pakistan is leading the fight against extremists who threaten the future and security of both countries. United States is well aware of the problems which Pakistan is currently facing, she said. We believe Pakistan is in a dire need of electricity. We are well determined to help Pakistan come out of energy crisis. We have decided to upgrade Pakistans power plants along with donating 10,000 tube wells to the people of Pakistan. Answering a query, Clinton said that US would respond to Pakistans call to help it come out of energy crisis in a similar way as it had responded to its request for assistance with more than $100 million in the shape of humanitarian support. She said the US had provided almost $60 million since last August to help Pakistanis who had been affected by the conflicts, besides other funding for Pakistan that her government was already seeking from the Congress. The United States has a history of working with Pakistani authorities to alleviate their sufferings, she said and added, When an earthquake struck the country in 2005, we moved quickly to assist. Altogether, the US has provided more than $3.4 billion since 2002 to promote economic growth, education, health and good governance in Pakistan. She said that she believed what President Obama was doing with his new approach towards Pakistan was qualitatively different than any previous approach. Now, we are doing this because we believe that the future of Pakistan is extremely important for the security of the United States, she added. Answering a query, she said the advance of extremism was a threat to US security. Al-Qaeda and their extremist allies are not only attacking friends and allies of US like Pakistan and Afghanistan, but they are also bent upon attacking American citizens and their interests around the world, she said. And as the President Obama has said, our goal is to defeat, disrupt and dismantle the Al-Qaeda network, she added. She said the US was doing according to the requests of Pakistan.

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