US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced more than US$500 million in new aid projects for Pakistan yesterday, which Washington hopes will help win over a skeptical public in an ally vital to winning the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
Clinton is in Islamabad for two days as part of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, a series of talks aimed at strengthening the relationship between the wary allies in the struggle against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
“We know that there is some questioning, even suspicion, about what the United States is doing today and I can only respond by saying that very clearly we have a commitment that is much broader and deeper than it has ever been,” she told a joint news conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
“We have moved beyond a standoff of our misunderstandings that were allowed to fester and not addressed ... to a position where we’re engaged in the most open dialogue that I think our two countries have ever had,” Clinton said.
Clinton will later fly on to Kabul for an international conference as the US-led war in Afghanistan runs into mounting doubt in the US Congress.
She announced a string of new projects — including dams, power generation, agricultural development and hospital construction — funded under US legislation passed last year tripling civilian aid to US$7.5 billion over the next five years.
The projects, the first to be launched under a new aid plan, are seen as crucial to shoring up support for the US-led struggle against militant extremists in a country where opinion polls show under one in five view the US favorably.
“The opinion of the United States will change when the people of Pakistan see that their lives have changed,” Qureshi said.
Pakistan also wants enhanced market access, strengthening of its resources to take up the anti-terror fight and “non-discriminatory access” to energy and other technology.
The latter two requests are long-standing Pakistani desires for more military equipment and a civilian nuclear deal, such as the one between India and the US.
Pakistan is also seeking a nuclear deal with China. The US is uneasy over the deal.
Qureshi said all international concerns would be addressed.
The Pakistan and Afghan commerce ministers signed a trade deal during her visit that the US also hopes will help boost cooperation between the countries.
The Obama administration sees nuclear-armed Pakistan as a pivotal player in the struggle against militant Islamist groups in both countries. However, the two sides are divided by a history of mistrust and sometimes diverging goals over a war that is increasingly unpopular.
Opinion polls have shown many Pakistanis doubtful about long-term US intentions, citing examples of abandonment, particularly after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan.
US officials, meanwhile, are wary of the role Pakistan is playing in Afghanistan and believe it needs to do more to fight its own homegrown Taliban militants, which Washington blames for the attempted bombing in New York’s Times Square on May 1.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are both seeking to encourage some elements of the Taliban to reconcile with the the Afghan government by renouncing al-Qaeda, laying down their arms and taking part in the Afghan political process.
Though the US is doubtful the Haqqani network — considered one of the most brutal and effective factions of the insurgency — can be persuaded to do so.
“There will be some who are willing to meet those conditions and others who are not,” Clinton said. “We would strongly advise our friends in Afghanistan to deal with those who are committed to a peaceful future.”
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