Ambassador Olson lauds Islamabad’s anti-military struggle. PHOTO: PID
This was agreed upon during a meeting between Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali and US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard G Olson at the Punjab House.
According to a senior official, Washington has assured Pakistan of its assistance to convene the conference most likely in July or August this year. “Consultation with all stakeholders to hold a global conference to discuss looming security threats to South Asia is going on. It will take us two to three months to finalise the process,” he said.
An interior ministry statement said Nisar reiterated his call to strengthening local communities, winning the trust of the peace loving majority, building resilience against radicalisation, addressing factors that drive towards extremism and focusing on education and tolerance. He said these measures could form the “conceptual bedrock for global action plan” in dealing with violent extremism.
The minister praised the White House for its stance and observed that the need to have serious discussions on this issue was never as great as it is today. He also complimented the US administration and President Obama's stance, in particular, in clearly differentiating between extremism and Islam.
“Pakistan while keeping its national interests supreme wants to have a long term, sustained and multifaceted equation with the US that would not only contribute towards bringing the two countries closer to each other but would also contribute significantly towards the promotion of peace and development,” Nisar was quoted as saying.
Appreciating the struggle of the government and people of Pakistan against militancy, Ambassador Olson said the United States is committed to further strengthening its bilateral relations and enhancing cooperation on issues of mutual concern.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2015.
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