Washington committed to civilian govt in Pakistan: Crowley

WASHINGTON: Stressing that the United States is working to forge a cooperative and mutually beneficial partnership with Pakistan, in marked contrast with the fickle nature of the past relationship, the State Department has said that Washington is committed to the future of Pakistan.

“We have worked hard in recent months to try to turn this relationship around. I think we recognise that this was not going to occur overnight. We have tried to communicate forcefully to not only the government, but also to the people directly, that the United States is committed to the future of Pakistan,” Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said. He was answering a question about low Pakistani public opinion and perceptions about the United States as reported by the Pew Research Organisation.

The spokesman reaffirmed the Obama administration’s commitment to cooperation with the civilian Pakistani government for the country’s progress in wide-ranging areas. “We have demonstrated over the past couple of years our commitment to civilian government in Pakistan. And we understand that going back several years, the commitment to the civilian government in Pakistan by the United States has been uneven.

“So this is part and parcel of improving the relationship with Pakistan. We are committed to civilian government in Pakistan. Our investments in Pakistan are geared towards helping that government build its capacity and deliver effective services to its people. We’re committed to helping Pakistan improve its economy, including the economy in the tribal areas, and the frontier areas where we are concerned about the presence of extremist elements and safe havens that affect the security of Pakistan and the security of the United States.”

On poll numbers, he said, “I don’t know that they are necessarily dramatically different than what we’ve seen from Pew in recent years. We understand that there’s a deficit in trust in our relationship. There are those in Pakistan who recall and sense that they were abandoned by the United States and the international community, going back 20 years or more,” the spokesman remarked.

The US, he said, is not surprised that people will want to see fruits of this partnership. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to do. It goes back to what the secretary announced in Islamabad last week - concrete projects that is - on energy, on health, on education that will create tangible results so the people of Pakistan can see it. And when they see it, then we would expect to see those poll numbers prospectively improve.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2010.