President sees a stronger Pakistan ahead

“We have the capabilities, we have the people, and all tragedies always unite nations,” president Zardari said.

SOCHI: Pakistan will emerge as a stronger nation from the flood tragedy that has triggered a massive humanitarian crisis, President Asif Ali Zardari said in a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday.

“We have... the capabilities, we have the people, and all tragedies always unite nations. This tragedy will again unite us,” he said.

Medvedev passed on his condolences and said Russia was “ready to render any help necessary.” We are at your disposal, he said.

President Zardari was in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi for a brief summit meeting with Medvedev and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He had originally planned a twoday visit to Russia but cut his trip to just a few hours.

“He will not even attend lunch,” officials in Islamabad said. “I have come here at a difficult time,” he said as the summit opened, acknowledging there was pressure on him not to show up. He said he came because today’s meeting was an “important forum to give an important message.”

“This is a time of need, a time of challenge,” he said, adding that Pakistan has never shunned challenge in its history. “Nature is the mightiest of all. We need the support of everyone,” he added.

At the summit meeting, the presidents of Pakistan and Russia backed the Afghan government’s fight against rebels. Medvedev assured Karzai of Moscow’s full backing in a region where Russia has played a major role from the so-called “Great Game” against Britain in the 19th century to the present day. “We support the fight of the Afghan government against terrorism and are ready to fully help in this direction,” Medvedev told Karzai in a bilateral meeting before the full summit. “We live in the same region – this creates common problems and common prospects,” the Russian president added.

Karzai thanked Medvedev for Moscow’s support and invited him to visit his conflict-torn country. However, a Kremlin spokesperson emphasised that Karzai’s invitation was a polite gesture but such a trip by the Russian president was not being planned for now.

Zardari however told Medvedev the world should “stand together... We can do it, we can do it altogether. We should support the Afghan people.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2010.