Pakistan vows to fight extremism, terrorism in totality

Amid strains in US-Pakistan ties, Premier Yousaf Raza Gilani today expressed his government's resolve to fight "extremism and terrorism in their totality" during a crucial meeting with America's Af-Pak envoy Marc Grossman here.

Gilani also insisted that the US-Pakistan relations "should go beyond terrorism."

Grossman, US' Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, arrived here this morning from New Delhi for talks with Pakistan's civil and military leadership aimed at easing tensions in bilateral relations and charting a way forward in war-torn Afghanistan.

In an apparent response to calls from the top American leadership for Pakistan to do more in the war against terrorism, Gilani expressed the resolve of his government to fight "extremism and terrorism in their totality." At the same time, he told Grossman that the bilateral relations "should go beyond terrorism."

The two leaders agreed to pursue bilateral cooperation in areas like trade, water and power and infrastructure, said a statement issued by the Prime Minister's House. The statement described the meeting as "cordial, productive and forward-looking."

Before his talks with Gilani, Grossman met Pakistan army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. They discussed measures for a "Pakistan-US cooperative framework for peace in the region," a military statement said without giving details.

Grossman also met Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who said during a brief interaction with reporters that the meeting had focussed on the Pakistan-US strategic partnership and the upcoming Istanbul conference on Afghanistan.

Khar said she and Grossman had discussed ways to "continue to build on this partnership which is important for the two countries and the region."

This will be "an intensive process in which we would like to have a meeting of minds as we go forward," she said.

The sharing of ideas and understanding of each other's perspectives is expected to "lead to the strategic coherence that we often talk about," Khar said.

She said Pakistan would play a "constructive role" in the Istanbul conference.

Grossman, who arrived in Pakistan after visiting China, India and several Central Asian states, said all players in the region "need to support a stable and secure Afghanistan."

At the same time, he said the Pakistan-US relationship is important for both countries.

"We talked about how we can continue in a systematic way to identify the interests that we share with Pakistan and there are many and then find ways to act on them jointly," he said.

Grossman will also meet President Asif Ali Zardari.

US-Pakistan relations have been strained since the May 2 raid by American special forces that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad. The ties were further affected after senior US officials, including President Barack Obama, called for Pakistan's ISI to sever its links with militant groups like the Haqqani network.

Grossman's arrival in Islamabad coincided with a US drone strike in North Waziristan tribal region that killed three suspected militants, including a senior commander of the Haqqani network.