Pakistan’s envoy to US Sherry Rehman terms drone campaign as counterproductive

In an effort to repair ties between Washington and Islamabad, Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman stated Pakistan’s position on American drone strikes, claiming they are counterproductive and reverse gains made in their relationship.

In an opinion piece, the Pakistani envoy said, “In the key battle for “hearts and minds,” the drone campaign has now become counterproductive to U.S. strategic interests.”

She also asked for greater US trade access for her country, seeking the new US Congress’s help in materializing the elusive trade initiative whilst underlining Pakistan’s commitment to the fight against terror.

The ambassador also highlighted to American lawmakers the elected government’s democratic and anti-terror achievements over the past five years.

“I appreciate US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson’s words that al Qaeda has largely been eliminated in the region due to joint Pak-US efforts, and hope that this will trigger a more meaningful conversation on ending U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan,” she wrote in a piece posted by The Hill Congressional daily.

The ambassador noted, “Specifically, Pakistan is proactively moving ahead to build confidence based on opening sustained trade and dialogue spigots with our immediate neighbors, Afghanistan and India.”

She also addressed the case for enhanced trade access to the US market. The envoy pointed out that think tank studies have shown that the impact of greater market access to Pakistan on US jobs will be negligible while the economic impact on the Pakistani side will be enormous.

“It will spur economic activity, generate employment, give the country’s enormous youth cohort an avenue to earn a living, and above all, give ordinary Pakistanis a stake in an enduring Pakistan-US relationship,” she said.

She further stated, “In the case of Afghanistan, as it makes an important security and political transition, we are working with the United States to facilitate an Afghan-owned and -led reconciliation process. Even at the lowest ebb of Pakistan-U.S. relations earlier this year, we made a conscious effort to shield the Pakistan-Afghanistan-United States trilateral process from adverse impact.”

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=36915

Posted by Web Desk on Jan 5 2013. 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.