Reinvigorating ties: PM urges Obama to end drone strikes

Nawaz also seeks American help to resolve Kashmir dispute with India.

WASHINGTON:

In his much hyped meeting with US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday called for an end to the contentious US drone campaign in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

At the same time, he also called upon the American leader to help resolve the lingering dispute over the Himalayan state of Kashmir which has bedeviled relations between Pakistan and India since 1947.

President Obama met the Pakistani premier at the White House where the two heads of state discussed a range of other issues, including bilateral trade opportunities and the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces from Afghanistan.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif focused on the expansion of trade and economic cooperation between Pakistan and the US,” Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani told reporters after the meeting.

“The premier also raised the drone issue with the American president, apart from discussing Afghanistan and the security situation in the region,” he added.

The White House talks were viewed with a great degree of interest in Washington, with the US particularly looking to secure Pakistan’s help in the Afghan reconciliation process and ensuring the smooth pullout of foreign forces from the war torn country.



Both sides had maintained a positive tone ahead of Wednesday’s meeting as Islamabad and Washington worked to ease bilateral tensions following a spate of contentious incidents, starting with the raid on Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound on May 2, 2011.

On his arrival, Prime Minister Nawaz was received by the White House Acting Chief of Protocol, as a band lined up on both sides of the path leading to the Oval Office.

The meeting between President Obama and the Premier Nawaz highlighted the importance and resilience of the Pak-US relationship and provided an opportunity for strengthening cooperation on issues of mutual concern, such as energy, trade and economic development, regional stability and countering violent extremism.

Ahead of his meeting with Obama, Prime Minister Nawaz had breakfast with US Vice President Joe Biden who “reaffirmed the US commitment to strengthening bilateral ties in support of a strong, democratic, prosperous Pakistan”.

Biden told Nawaz “that together we must continue to combat terrorism and violent extremism and work to strengthen regional and global security,” according to a statement. He appreciated Pakistan’s contribution and sacrifices in fighting terrorism, and praised the Pakistani premier for promoting peace and stability in the region.

Biden also acknowledged Pakistan’s usefulness in facilitating reconciliation in Afghanistan. Premier Nawaz reaffirmed his government’s commitment to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process as well. Both leaders agreed on the need to further strengthen coordination and cooperation among Pakistan, U S and Afghanistan to ensure success of the reconciliation process.

They discussed other areas of mutual interest as well, along with cooperation in issues pertaining to regional peace and stability.

Nawaz and Biden identified the revived strategic dialogue process as the ideal vehicle to further strengthen a people-centric, broad based, mutually beneficial relationship. They emphasised the need to focus on promoting cooperation in trade and investment, energy, education and science and technology sectors and strengthening people-to-people contacts to realise the true potential of the relationship.

Senior Obama administration officials also assured Premier Nawaz that the US will help Pakistan in speeding up its economic recovery and overcoming its energy crisis in a series of meetings during his official visit.

The White House says it considers its bilateral relationship with Pakistan ‘enormously valuable’. Earlier, it announced the resumption of about $1.6 billion in economic and security assistance for Pakistan, which were held up in recent years.

Foreign Secretary Jilani said Pakistan and the US will be engaged in a range of initiatives in the coming months to help bolster cooperation in trade, investment and energy sectors.

Briefing journalists about the series of meetings of the prime minister held with US officials on Wednesday, he said the Pakistan-US Working Group on Energy will meet in Houston and Washington in November to discuss ways to expand cooperation.

Jilani added that in another initiative, the US would invite Pakistani businessmen and send a ‘buyers’ mission’ to spur trade between the two countries.

“The US is one of our largest trading partners and promotion of trade and investment has been the main theme of prime minister’s official visit,” Jilani said.

“We have noticed a lot of positivity in the meetings… US officials have appreciated Pakistan’s focus on energy, economy and bringing good governance,” he said, adding, “They see a lot of seriousness and commitment on part of the [PML-N] government.

Premier Nawaz, during his four-day visit to Washington, has had a series of high-level meetings with top Obama Administration officials, including the US secretaries of state, defense, commerce, energy and treasury, and US trade representatives. He has also met lawmakers and interacted with the Washington’s think tank community and the Pakistani American community.

The prime minister was accompanied by National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi, Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani and Charge d Affaires Asad M Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2013.