U.S. Congress Elections & Impact

[Nasir]

U.S. Congress elections not affect Pakistan-U.S. relations: FM

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri has said that the outcome of recent elections in the United States would not affect Pakistan-U.S. relations.

In an interview with state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) on Friday, the foreign minister said Pakistan enjoyed special relations with the United States whose policy toward Pakistan had bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress.

He said that the policy of both the parties, the Republicans and Democrats, was based on the 9/11 Commission Report, which stressed the centrality and importance of Pakistan for regional and international peace and security.

He added the new Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and other leaders of Democratic Party during their election campaign had stressed the necessity of faithful implementing the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.

"This ensured continuing support to Pakistan," said Kasuri.

Kasuri said due to its strategic location and the vital role it played in regional peace and security, Pakistan remained an important country not just for the United States but also for the European Union, China, Russia, Japan, the Islamic World as well as other countries of the world.

He added that Pakistan was following a policy of constant engagement with important countries. It was, therefore, immaterial who controlled the U.S. Congress, he said.

Kasuri said the numerous Congressional delegations that visited Pakistan and with whom he interacted, contained top leaders from both the parties.

He said former U.S. President Clinton, the best known leader of the Democratic Party, had recently invited President Musharraf to attend Clinton Global Initiative in New York where he was the only leader from Asia.

This was indicative of importance of Pakistan and of President Musharraf in the eyes of leaders of both Republican and Democratic parties, he said.

On the recent visit of the U.S. Assistance Secretary of State Richard Boucher, Kasuri categorically denied the reports that he carried a secret message to Pakistan.

He rubbished the reports that any country could dictate to Pakistan. The foreign minister stressed that Pakistan did what it found to be in its best national interest.

Source: Xinhua

h..ttp://english.people.com.cn/200611/10/eng20061110_320431.html

 

[Nasir]

Democrat congressional victory no threat to Pak-US ties: Kasuri

* Foreign minister stresses bipartisan recognition of Islamabad’s geo-strategic signficance

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said on Friday that this week’s victory by the Democrat Party in the American Congressional elections would not negatively impact Pak-US ties.

In an interview with Pakistan Television, the foreign minister stressed that the special Pak-US relationship had bipartisan support within the United States Congress since both the Democrat and Republican parties had accepted the findings of the 9/11 Commission Report, which had stressed the centrality and importance of Pakistan to regional and international peace and security. Moreover, senior Democrat leaders had, in their election campaign, pledged their commitment to upholding the Commission’s recommendations, he noted.

Kasuri said it was wrong to assume that American politcal parites favoured particluar countires over others. Like any other state, the US pursued its national interest regardless of which party held a congressional majority, he added.

Moreover, the foreign minister said, Pakistan’s strategic locaiton and crucial role in maintaining regional peace and security had been acknowledged, not just by Washington, but by the European Union, China, Russia, Japan and the entire Muslim world. Thus Pakistan was actively pursuing a policy of constant engagement with the world’s key players.

Kasuri also slammed reports that US Under Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Richard Boucher had, during his recent visit to Islamabad, indicated that Pakistan needed to do more to cooperate with the American-led war on terror. The government, he stressed, pursued a foreign policy based on the national interest.

He said that Pakistan’s opposition to the US-led war on Iraq, possible military strikes against Iran, and the recent Israeli aggression against Lebanon - as well as its continued support of the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project - reflected the government’s independent policy record. Indeed, he said, it was an independent foreign policy that had enabled Pakistan to become perhaps the only country in the world to enjoy strategic relations with both Washington and Beijing.

On Pakistani nationals still held at Guantánamo Bay, the foreign minister said that the government was working towards having all detainees held in both Cuba and Afghanistan released as soon as possible. The government had already succeeded in securing the release of the majority of Pakisani citizens caught up in the war on terror, he noted.

On the Indo-US civilan nuclear deal, the foreign minister reiterated that the government’s position remained asking “the US and the international community for a similar deal”.

Noting that Pakistan was home to a fast-growing economy with rapidly increasing energy needs, he said that the country’s own energy reserves were “insufficient” to meet its future energy demands if the current economic growth rate were to be maintained. Thus, it was essential that Pakistan have access to nuclear energy, he stressed, adding that the government was prepared to consturct nuclear parks, from which foreign companies could operate independently.

On the future of the IPI gas pipeline, he stressed that far from abandonning the project, Pakistan was currently discussing pricing structures with Iran. In addition, Pakistan was also looking to import gas from Turkmenistan and other countries, he said.

He also noted that as part of the Pak-US strategic partnership concluded during President George W Bush’s visit to Islamabad at the beginning of the year, the two sides were engaged in energy dialogue negotiations, aimed at assisting Pakistan meet its energy needs. APP

h..ttp://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C11%5C11%5Cstory_11-11-2006_pg7_15

 

[Nasir]

Next US Defence Secy. had close links with India, Pak.

Washington, Nov.10 (PTI): Having had close links with India and Pakistan over a decade back, Robert M Gates, nominated as the next US Defence Secretary, is said to have helped avert a nuclear war between the two South Asian neighbours in 1990.

Gates, who served as Deputy National Security Adviser under the elder George H W Bush and then as CIA Director, visited the two countries in May, 1990 during heightened tension between them. However, the view that Gates visited India and Pakistan to "defuse" a nuclear standoff between the two countries itself has been brushed off by many Indian analysts and former senior officials as "highly alarmist".

According to an article in the New York Times by Seymour Hersh, Pakistan had openly deployed its main armoured tank units along the Indian border and had secretly put its nuclear-weapons arsenal on alert." "...the Bush Administration became convinced that the world was on the edge of a nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India." Hersh quotes Richard J. Kerr, deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1990, as saying. "It was the most dangerous nuclear situation we have ever faced since I've been in the U.S. government. It may be as close as we've come to a nuclear exchange. It was far more frightening than the Cuban missile crisis," Kerr told Hersh.

And Gates who had to break away from a visit to Russia and "rush" to the Indian subcontinent reportedly told Hersh that "Pakistan and India seemed to be caught in a cycle that they couldn't break out of. I was convinced that if a war started, it would be nuclear."

h..ttp://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200611102074.htm