Eliminating terrorism has boosted Pakistan's economy: Aizaz Chaudhry

Says US is still global leader and a very important country for Pakistan

HOUSTON, TEXAS: Ambassador to the United States, Aizaz Chaudhry, said that the security and economic situation in Pakistan has improved due to the PML-N government's strenuous efforts.

Pakistan has been gaining foothold in eradicating terrorism and extremism, he said during an interview in Houston area, which is home to between 150,000-200,000 people who identify as Pakistani-Americans.



The Pakistani diplomat said that he was aware of the critical relations between Pakistan and the US. "The United States is still the global leader and a very important country for us.”

"For Pakistan, which is making huge investments into the energy sector, Houston is the place." he said. "Our security situation has improved. Our economy is doing well. And this is a good time for investors to come to Pakistan,” said Aizaz.

He credited the improvement to a concerted effort to root out extremists and terrorists to end the non-stop violence that plagued their country for years.

"When you kill innocent people in the streets and in the markets, that's no holy duty - that's outright barbaric terrorism," he added.

The ambassador explained that the government's efforts to control terrorism have worked and agreed that this week's terrorist incident in Manchester, England, was a sign that global terror was still a threat.



"We believe we are on to addressing an even more important undertaking," Aizaz said, "which is to address their mindset of extremism that, in the first place, gave rise to these militants."

Aizaz insisted that a stable Afghanistan was important for South Asia and the US.

Aizaz Chaudhry, who is on his first trip to Texas, was appointed as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US in March this year. Later he had a meeting with President Trump when he arrived in Washington, DC.

This article originally appeared on ABC13.