10/9/2009

Pakistani foreign minister outlines policies at Baker Institute lecture

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News staff

The Pakistani foreign minister expressed confidence in the future of bilateral relations with the United States during an Oct. 5 speech at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the audience that Pakistan's "partnership with the United States is an important pillar of our external support system. It is an important catalyst for change and stability in our part of the world."


	GEORGE WONG
	Pakistani foreign minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed confidence in the future of bilateral relations with the United States during an Oct. 5 speech at the Baker Institute for Public Policy.

In a wide-ranging speech, Qureshi addressed topics from Afghanistan to India to economic development.

Edward Djerejian, founding director of the Baker Institute, introduced Qureshi, pointing out that while much progress had been made "since the tragic assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007 and the resumption of full civilian government in 2008, democratic Pakistan still faces severe challenges."

"Pakistan-United States relations have never been more important to either country than today," Djerejian said.

"Enlightened self-interest," Qureshi said, has led to "dramatically" improved relations with Pakistan's troubled neighbor, Afghanistan, since civilian rule was restored in Pakistan one-and-a-half years ago. Citing "strategic issues of common interest," the Pakistani foreign minister argued that "Afghanistan's peace, stability and security is in our mutual interest."

Elements of Pakistan's security services have long been accused of secretly supporting some insurgents operating in Afghanistan and along the common border. Afghan President Hamid Karzai had a notably frosty relationship with the previous Pakistani leader, General Pervez Musharraf, in part because of those accusations.

Reacting to a string of bombings inside Pakistan, followed by a major military offensive against militants in the Swat Valley this spring, the Pakistani people have shifted their views, Qureshi said. "Today when people see that there are innocent people dying, when they see all the major urban centers of Pakistan being hit, when they see that the economy of Pakistan has suffered and job creation and investment have been compromised because of these extremists, I think the public opinion has changed," he said. "Civil society has woken up."

Accordingly, Qureshi said the government has adopted a "3-D" strategy -- dialogue, development and deterrence -- to deal with its homegrown insurgency.

He complained that the U.S. unmanned aircraft used to kill suspected militants inside Pakistan -- and often kill innocent civilians in the process -- "impinge upon our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pakistan must be given the technology to conduct such operations on its own," he said.

One of the keys to winning over Pakistan's 170 million people, Qureshi emphasized, is trade and development. He encouraged the United States to approve free-trade legislation that would improve Pakistan's exports and bring jobs. He also noted Pakistan's untapped ability to produce food for much of the region -- from the Persian Gulf to Central Asia.

Pakistan has "legitimate energy needs," Qureshi said, appealing for the U.S. to offer it a civilian nuclear deal, much like it has to Pakistan's eastern neighbor, India.

The issue of India came up several times. The civilian government of Pakistan feels strongly "that we need to normalize relations with India," Qureshi said. The Mumbai attacks last November "upset the process," not the least since Qureshi himself was in New Delhi at the time negotiating to improve ties.

"We are ready to engage (with India)," Qureshi said. "We are not just ready to engage, we are also ready to take the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice. The legal process is on." India has charged in the past that Pakistan was dragging its feet on cracking down on the militants accused of organizing the Mumbai attacks.

Still, Qureshi maintained the government of Prime Minister Asif Ali Zardari is committed to friendly relations with all of its neighbors. "Pakistan is leading our region into a new era of transregional cooperation," he said.