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WEEKLY
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No military stand-off between Pak, India: Rice |
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Updated at:
1350
PST, Thursday, December 04, 2008 |
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ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday said Pakistan has shown focused approach and commitment on the issue of terrorism and she was satisfied with her talks with Pakistani leadership on the issue of regional security. “Pakistani leadership is focused and very committed on the issue of terrorism,” Rice told reporters prior to her departure as she arrived here Thursday morning after visiting India.
Rice said Pakistan was itself suffering the effects of terrorism, adding there was a need for joint efforts by the states to fight the global issue and stop further attacks like this.
She said United States was prepared to help in whatever way in rooting out this problem from the region.
She said she was satisfied with her talks with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani that focused on the issue of terrorism, adding Pakistani leadership had the understanding of the gravity of the problem.
The US Secretary of State said all the responsible countries had a role to play to free the region from terrorism.
“We need to...everyone and United States need to stay focused on that,” she said.
She said terrorists work in a way that they do not respect borders; therefore the effective way to counter their activities is international cooperation.
Rice said discussing the issue of terrorism is not to talk about the military action but about how to deal with the problem. Rice said she had very extensive talks with Pakistani leaders.
She said Pakistan should act urgently and actively and added that US will extend its full cooperation and assistance to Pakistan whenever and wherever needed.
The Secretary of State said, “I found focused approach and sense of responsibility in Pakistan’s leadership to tackle the menace of terrorism where ever it is.”
She said Pakistan is itself victim of terrorism, therefore, she hoped that Pakistan will going to investigate the circumstances behind the Mumbai attacks.
To a question Rice said she had reasonable discussion with both Pakistan and Indian leadership, adding Pakistan understands the concern and determination of Indian government to bring culprits to justice.
Rice said the issue was how to respond in an effective way, adding the most effective way was the ‘cooperation between Pakistan and India’ for which the United States was ready to extend help wherever required.
To a question about providing information to Pakistan by India in Mumbai attacks, Rice said there was a lot of information and many mechanisms existed to share such information.
She said both Indian and Pakistani leadership have to share the information to bring the culprits to justice.
Referring to Pak-India relations after the Mumbai attacks, she said they were improving, and with cooperation these should move forward with exchanging information and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Rice said the lines of communication between Pakistan and India should remained open and both the countries should further improve their relations.
She said both Pakistan and India have the commitment and capacity to deal with terrorists.
Rice termed the Mumbai blasts “terrible yet highly sophisticated”, not earlier seen in this region, and urged the need for urgency to bring the perpetrators to justice and disrupt the information to prevent future attacks.
She said it was United States’ intention to augment the assistance and prove helpful in many ways. She mentioned her talks with British leadership that she said also had the same attitude.
Rice said as Americans have also been killed in the Mumbai attacks, therefore the United States had special concern on this incident. |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
