United States applauds democratic tendencies in Pakistan: US Ambassador Richard Olson

The US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson has said the United States applauds democratic tendencies in Pakistan, expressing hopes that free and fair general elections would lead to peaceful transfer of authority from one civilian government to successor civilian government.

Speaking to Radio Pakistan, the US envoy said completion of the term by a democratically elected government is a milestone in the country’s history. The US is looking forward to building a relationship with Pakistan based on historical partnership‚ common interests and mutual respect, he added.

Olson said there have been challenges in the bilateral ties but the relationship on the stable footing following intensive engagements between the two countries, adding that it is important for the United States to have good relations with Pakistan.

He also recognized the importance of defining relationship with Pakistan saying it was not just in terms of Afghanistan but beyond 2015 through the century.  Pakistan would become fourth largest country in the world and that is one of the reasons to have continued engagements with the country, he anticipated.

The US Ambassador acknowledged the sacrifices made by Pakistan in the war against terror and said forty thousand Pakistanis have lost their lives in the conflict.

Replying to a question Richard Olson said the US and Afghanistan are beginning their negotiations on Bilateral Security Agreement this week in Kabul. He clarified that the proposed agreement is not about permanent bases as the US is not seeking any such facility. Instead‚ it would provide a framework and terms for security presence after 2014.

The US Ambassador said the deadline of 2014 is for ending military aspect of the engagement in Afghanistan responsibly as the US did in Iraq. He said it would not be a disengagement from Afghanistan or the region. The US has already concluded a Strategic Agreement with Afghanistan defining the nature of relationship between the two countries in the post-withdrawal decade, he added.

He said the United States wants to conclude the Bilateral Investment Treaty as soon as possible as it would support investment in both countries.

To another question‚ he said the United States is working on a number of programmes to help expedite socio-economic development in FATA. He said their focus is on health‚ education and water.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=35060

Posted by Web Desk on Nov 16 2012. Filed under USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.