Pak seeks US help in resolving Kashmir issue

Pakistan on Monday asked the US to play a role in resolving the Kashmir issue with India, saying it would help the country concentrate on the 'war on terror' on the border with Afghanistan.

Prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told John Kerry, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that resolving the Kashmir dispute would help Pakistan concentrate on the war on terror on the frontier with Afghanistan.

Gilani said the US administration "must take this fact into account that Pakistan cannot ignore its eastern border and hence (America) should play a role in resolving all outstanding issues, including the core issue of Kashmir, between Pakistan and India so that Pakistan can focus entirely on the western front," an official statement said.

At the same time, the premier told Kerry, who met him here on Monday, that the US should not attach conditions to the assistance package being presented to the US Congress as "aid with strings attached would fail to generate the desired goodwill and results in Pakistan".

The strategic and multifaceted partnership of the US and Pakistan should be "based on mutual respect and mutual trust and both sides should work together to reduce the trust deficit which was harming rather than further strengthening the bilateral ties", he said.

Almost all the major issues like US drone attacks, crtiticsm of ISI's role and its links with terrorist groups as well as conditions sought to be attached by Washington to a whopping billions of dollars of worth of new aid to Pakistan figured in the talks Kerry had with Gilani.

The influential senator, who also met president Asif Ali Zardari and foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, has introduced a bill in the US Congress that would triple economic aid to Pakistan to USD 1.5 billion a year.

In the meeting, Gilani also sought an end to US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas, saying the collateral damage in the strikes were impeding his government's efforts to counter terrorism.

In an apparent reference to the criticism of the ISI, the prime minister "pointed out that the negative messaging emanating from the US and the West was generating ill-will".

During his meeting with Kerry, Zardari emphasised the need for working out a joint strategy to counter terrorism.

Zardari also called for expediting the passage of the Kerry-Lugar Bill.

Gilani pointed out that Pakistan is a victim of militancy and terrorism and "would continue to act as bulwark in eradicating this menace in its own interest as well as in the interest of the world".

Kerry told Gilani that he and his colleagues in the US Senate are working with the House of Representatives for the passage of the legislation for providing Pakistan an economic and military assistance package.

Kerry said he was hopeful that Pakistan's concerns would be fully accommodated in the final version of the legislation.

The US wants to build a "long-term relationship with Pakistan beyond the issue of terrorism", Kerry said. He added that he respected the way Gilani handled the domestic political situation last month to bring all political stakeholders on board on important national issues.

Kerry hoped the Pakistan government would be able to overcome its economic difficulties by creating environment conducive to foreign investment.

The US senator discussed various issues with Zardari, including the situation in the region, the upcoming meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan forum in Tokyo on April 17, funds for socio-economic uplift in Pakistan and the war on terror.

Referring to the economic and security challenges facing Pakistan, Zardari said financial assistance was essential for the economic and social uplift of the people. Generous support from the international community will help strengthen democracy in the country, he said.