AFP/Phuket, Thailand
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday hailed Pakistan’s “courageous” progress against Taliban and Al Qaeda extremists after holding talks with the country’s foreign minister.
Clinton, who met with Shah Mehmood Qureshi at a major Asian security forum in Thailand, also said Pakistan had made “impressive” progress in dealing with nearly two million people displaced by battles against the Taliban.
“We talked about the encouraging signs in Pakistan’s fight against violent extremists,” Clinton told reporters at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum in the Thai beach resort of Phuket.
Clinton said that there were “still great challenges ahead facing Pakistan including the ongoing threat of violent extremism and continued economic difficulties”.
“But I assured the foreign minister that the United States stands ready to help the Pakistani government and people,” she added.
Pakistani security forces in April launched an offensive in northwest districts after Taliban rebels advanced towards Islamabad, under heavy US pressure to counter militants threatening the existence of the state.
The clashes sparked a huge exodus as people rushed to escape the fighting.
Clinton told Qureshi that the “progress your government is making in this effort of a significant return of people back to their homes, because of the success of the government policy and military action, is impressive.”
“The US has offered to continue to work with Pakistan in what ways Pakistan feels appropriate in a courageous struggle against violence and extremism,” she told him, saying she looked forward to visiting the country later this year.
Qureshi told reporters he was “delighted” to meet with Clinton and said his country would continue to work closely with the US.
US envoy for the region Richard Holbrooke held talks on Wednesday with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad who are concerned that a US offensive in neighbouring Afghanistan will further destabilise Pakistan.
Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani urged the US to share intelligence from spy flights and arm its soldiers against militants accused by Washington of plotting attacks from the Afghan border, his officials said.
Washington has put Pakistan at the heart of the fight against Al Qaeda, and Obama has ordered an extra 21,000 troops to neighbouring Afghanistan in a bid to stabilise the country for elections as part of a sweeping new war plan.
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