Tehran conference: Pakistan’s anti-terror push evident to all, says Zardari

Former president says Pakistan’s efforts to battle extremism and terrorism are evident to all

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has expressed the hope that the world will no longer accuse Pakistan of using militants for advancing its security and foreign policy agendas in the region.

Addressing a conference on militancy in Tehran, the former president said Pakistan’s efforts to battle extremism, sectarianism and terrorism with renewed determination and vigour are evident to all.

“I am encouraged that Pakistan’s determination to stand as a bulwark against terrorism is also reflected in the new Afghan president’s declaration that he wishes to forget the past and start afresh,” Zardari said.

He said a sustainable peace in Pakistan is not really possible without a stable Afghanistan, adding that consistent outreach and signaling of backing no political favourites and non-interference in Afghanistan will bear some strategic dividends.

“With India too with whom we share borders, climate risks, culture and communities, our policy of moving past coercive diplomacy is important,” he said.

He said Pakistan is looking to invest in peace in the region. “But it will not respond well to conditions messaged at us across the working boundary or the media. Hard postures are not the way forward for mature countries,” he added.

Talking with reference to Middle East, he said state fragility in the heart of the Middle East – caused by non-state actors from different parts of the world including the west – was a huge challenge.

He recalled that as president he resisted global attempts to rush into wars in the Middle East because any support to the rebel groups would trigger state meltdowns and dangerous security vacuums.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2014.