Pak-US ties: Zardari urges ‘clear’ terms of engagement
President Asif Ali Zardari emphasised upon the need for lucid terms of understanding between Pakistan and the US regarding the strategic alliance in the war against terror.
Contradictory positions on important issues and unilateral actions have adversely affected bilateral ties in recent times, the president asserted during his meeting with Ambassador Marc Grossman, US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Ambassador Grossman was accompanied by Ambassador Cameron Munter, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Rear Admiral Philip Davidson, and other senior officials. Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Federal Minister for Finance, Rehman Malik, Federal Minister for Interior, Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, Syeda Sughra Imam, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Farhatullah Babar, presidential spokesman, also attended the meeting.
Farhatullah Babar, talking to the media after the meeting, said that Pak-US bilateral relationship, war against militants as well as the regional situation, with special reference to Afghanistan, were discussed during the meeting.
He said that the president made it clear that the absence of definitive and documented terms of engagements hamper diplomatic ties between allies. Hence, these should be clearly defined and mutually agreed upon in any future interaction between Pakistan and the US.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 2nd, 2011.
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