Islamabad; November 15, 2010: Mr. Andrew Mitchell, British Secretary of State for International Development called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr today. Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Federal Minister for Finance, Mr. M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, Senator Syeda Sughra Imam, Malik Asif Hayat, secretary to the President, Mr. Salman Bashir, Foreign Secretary and other senior officials were present during the meeting. British High Commissioner to Pakistan Mr. Adam Thomson was also present.
Pak-UK bilateral relations, strategic dialogue, regional situation, rehabilitation of flood affectees, trade access to EU for Pakistan’s goods, meeting of Pakistan Development Forum and other related issues were discussed during the meeting.
The President while appreciating valuable assistance from UK during recent floods said that the people and the Government of Pakistan greatly appreciate assistance from the international community especially from the friends at this hour of need. He also thanked the British Government and the British Prime Minister for advocating Pakistan’s case for getting access to EU markets saying that it would go a long way in providing much needed support to the war ravaged and flood hit economy of the country. The President expressed the hope that the British leadership would continue to support Pakistan’s case for EU’s GSP plus scheme as well.
The President while commenting on the progress of Pakistan Education Task Force said that both the countries need to further enhance cooperation since the education sector needs special attention as a long term measure to neutralize militant mindset. Education, the President said is the long term answer to extremism and militancy and added that Pak- UK Education Task Force is an important theme of the strategic dialogue.
The President during the meeting appreciated UK’s Government continued support to the democratic dispensation in Pakistan in overcoming the challenges faced by it. Highlighting the commonality of interests and the shared objectives, the President emphasized upon the need to further strengthen institutional contacts and strategic and cooperative ties between the two countries.
The President said that Pakistan looks forward to the Prime Minister Cameron’s visit to Pakistan which he said would serve to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in all areas particularly trade and development between the two countries and would also provide a good opportunity to launch enhanced Pak- UK strategic Dialogue.
The President while commenting on the measures undertaken for the rehabilitation of flood affectees said that the government has appointed oversight council comprising members of impeccable integrity to ensure transparent and effective utilization of relief assistance. He said that the government is exploring all indigenous resources including imposition of flood Tax on well-to-do of the country and reprioritizing the budget to rehabilitate the flood affectees and added that international community has also to come forward in a big way in support and assistance as the devastations inflicted by the floods were too huge to be tackled on its own by any government.
President Zardari further said that Pakistan has always called upon the international community for finding a permanent solution to the sources of funding for terrorists and to address the issue of illegal drugs production and trafficking that is a major threat to international peace and stability.
He said that a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan was in the interests of Pakistan and it has always supported every effort of the international community in this regard.
The President thanked Mr Andrew Mitchell for his participation in Pakistan Development Forum and added that the discussions in PDF would help fine tune strategy for rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood affectees.
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