By Muhammad Saleh Zaafir & Asim Yasin
BERLIN: Germany has advised Pakistan to improve its governance for the sake of boosting its economy. The restoration of the superior judiciary has been helping in strengthening institutions in Pakistan.
The piece of advice came from the leading European nation here on Tuesday in a news conference jointly addressed by visiting Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and German Chancellor Angela Merkel after their bilateral talks in the German Chancellery.
The advice by the chancellor to improve the governance and comments on Pakistan’s judiciary were conspicuous since Germany has been supporting Pakistan in different spheres for various endeavours.
Both Pakistan and Germany announced to maintain their strategic political dialogue for further cooperation in the economic, energy, investment and technology transfer.
“We will continue to support Pakistan in the war against terror and will do every thing for the development of Pakistan,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the joint press conference after her meeting with Prime Minister Gilani.
“We have decided to upgrade and devise a roadmap for cooperation between the two countries,” said Prime Minister Gilani.
Gilani and Merkel discussed enhanced defence cooperation in areas of training, defence procurement and production during their meeting on Tuesday.
The defence cooperation between the two countries was put on a freeze following the nuclear tests by Pakistan and India in 1998.
In the press conference, Merkel said Germany had offered the assistance in the field of the education that will help to curtail the menace of terrorism. She said Germany was helping Pakistan in the framework of Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP).
She said investment protection treaty between the two countries would lay the solid foundation for further cooperation between the two countries. She said under the FoDP, Germany has tried to stabilize economic situation of Pakistan, helping the IMF to support the country and hoped this is indeed in interest of Pakistan.
Gilani said Germany being one of the largest economies of the European Union can assist Pakistan for greater access to its goods to the European markets.
Asked about the German future policy regarding Afghanistan, Merkel said Germany would make its point on troops increase in Afghanistan following the Afghanistan conference on Afghanistan on Jan 28.
When asked about the trade facilities to Pakistan under the GSP for market access in European Union, she said: “The government will show constructive attitude and encourage the EU to promote these matters. The strategic importance of Pakistan is seen by all and other members of the EU are understood to have seen its importance.”
While in an opening statement, Gilani said, “In the battle for hearts and minds, in the quest to give our people, the hope of a better tomorrow, greater trade remains a strategic imperative.”
The prime minister appreciated the German chancellor for her country’s support to the FoDP with pledging $155 million at the Tokyo Donors Conference.
He informed the German chancellor about the success of the counter-terrorism operations in South Waziristan and said now the government’s priority was relief and rehabilitation of the returnees in affected areas and reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure and property.
He said Pakistan looks forward to German assistance to share the burden for the reconstruction of areas affected by terrorism, extremism and militancy.
Both leaders also exchanged views on overall security situation in this region, with particular reference to Afghanistan.
He said being Afghanistan’s immediate neighbour, Pakistan must be onboard to ensure sustainability of peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Merkel said because of Germany’s own interest in Afghanistan, it desires improvement in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. “We wish to strengthen relations between the two,” she added.
Meanwhile, the German government declined to give an outright undertaking to Pakistan regarding immediate removal of laws coming in the way of provision of defence equipment to Pakistan.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had extensive talks with the German leaders including its president, chancellor, president of the German Parliament and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee here in the German capital and impressed upon the need to remove all restrictions on supplies for Pakistan’s defence requirements.
The German chancellor expressed her inability in the wake of the restrictions imposed by the successive administrations. She was sympathetic to Pakistan’s request in this regard.
In the meantime, Pakistan and Germany have agreed to set up strategic dialogue of the two countries. The dialogue would be on the echelon of the foreign ministers and it would cater various aspects of the bilateral ties.
Showing posts with label gillani. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gillani. Show all posts
Pakistan Army clears contentious parts of Baloachistan Package
The Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani after getting some solid guarantees from the top military leadership of the country, is all set to announce an immediate ban on the construction of new military cantonments in Balochistan, general amnesty for the armed activists of the Balochistan Liberation Army(BLA) and talks offer to three rebel leaders-Herbiyar Murree, Baramdagh Bugti and Attaullah Khan Mengal, in his speech in the parliament today (Tuesday).
The sources said, the Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani was said to have endorsed the new package after the Prime Minister Gilani sat down with him and ISI Chief General Shujja Pasha to discuss all the important points of this package concerning the role of military in Balochistan.
The sources said, the ban on construction of cantonment and release the missing Baloch persons was said to have been made part of the package after the clearance from the top military leadership.
The sources said, it has been decided by the government that the that military would not construct new cantonments in the province however the two old cantonments would stay functional. Likewise, it was decided that the heads of the Balochistan and Gawadar Authority would be from Balochistan and no outsider would be appointed there. The SAINDAK and RECODIK contracts might also be reviewed to give ownership to the local Baloch people, with Islamabad only dealing ‘on their behalf’ with foreign contractors.
The top government sources privy to this major development of Balochistan package claimed that as a part of the short term strategy PM Gilani would direct the concerned secret agencies, forces and department to ensure the immediate production of all the missing persons in the province. One source said, the missing persons were being produced and released to create a friendly environment for the start of talks with the rebel leaders, Harbiyar Murree, Barahdagh Bugti and Akthar Mengal, who have been championing the cause of an independent Balochistan.
One top source claimed that these top leaders were taken into confidence by the powers that be before giving a final shape to the Balochistan Package but it might take some time before they come to the negotiating table as these leaders are likely to adopt a wait and see approach before publicly reciprocating the package initiative.
Meanwhile, in a bid to take the friendly Muslim countries into confidence before tabling the “Rahe-i- Haqooq Balochistan” package, a top federal minister, with strong links within both the PM House and Presidency, was given the task to give a secret briefing to about 50 Afro-Arabs ambassadors at the residence of Egyptian ambassador. The briefing was given to take all the ambassadors on board to counter international conspiracies being hatched to destabilize Balochistan.
Meanwhile, inside sources said, the backdoor channels unleashed by President Asif Zardari had played an important role in bringing the Baloch rebel leaders back to the negotiating table. Mr. Zardari was said to have used his Sindhi and Baloch contacts to get Baloch rebel leaders to agree to a new package on Balochistan before start of meaningful talks in the long run. These sources claimed that the PPP government in Islamabad had quietly paid a considerable amount to help Herbiyar Murree to fight a terrorism case in UK and get himself acquitted. The sources said, the amount was paid as a part of Confidence Building Measures(CBM) as PPP government greatly helped him to get the cases against him settled in the British courts. Herbiyar Murree was arrested by British Authorities in December 2007 on the request of General Musharraf. Before the arrest of Herbiyar, his brother Balach Marri was targeted and killed less than a fortnight ago. General Musharraf was using Rashid Rauf as a bargaining chip to bring Herbiyar Marri to Pakistan. But, now Islamabad has apparently taken a reconciliatory approach to soften the Baloch leader and this move may just pay dividends as PM goes to announce the new package.
Likewise, sources said, during the backdoor negotiation with Baramdagh Bugti, the PPP government had also agreed to offer him some concessions. Baramdagh was said to have asked the official negotiators to first give him a new green passport as his old one had expired.
The sources said, the establishment forces too had been in touch with Sardar Akthar Mengal on the issue of new initiatives as the Baloch leaders knew that political commitments with them would not work unless the establishment forces gave them firm assurances. The sources said, the Baloch leaders were now taking these initiatives seriously. The sources said, the abolition of cases against Akthar Mengal and his colleagues on terrorism charges during Musharraf regime had played a major role in convincing these leaders in showing flexibility and resuming a dialogue with the government.
The joint session of the parliament would continue even after the Eid so that the house could debate the new package before its approval. It was decided that a parliamentary committee would be formed to monitor the progress on this package after getting the full nod of the parliament as all these arrangements would be given a legal shape so as the Baloch rebel leadership could not find any excuse on the basis of trust deficit.
The sources said, earlier a four and half hours long meeting was presided over by the PM Gilani on Monday to give a final shape to the new package and his speech to be delivered in the joint sitting on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Khurshid Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Dr Babar Awan, Raza Rabbani, Naveed Qamar and others.
The sources said, the Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani was said to have endorsed the new package after the Prime Minister Gilani sat down with him and ISI Chief General Shujja Pasha to discuss all the important points of this package concerning the role of military in Balochistan.
The sources said, the ban on construction of cantonment and release the missing Baloch persons was said to have been made part of the package after the clearance from the top military leadership.
The sources said, it has been decided by the government that the that military would not construct new cantonments in the province however the two old cantonments would stay functional. Likewise, it was decided that the heads of the Balochistan and Gawadar Authority would be from Balochistan and no outsider would be appointed there. The SAINDAK and RECODIK contracts might also be reviewed to give ownership to the local Baloch people, with Islamabad only dealing ‘on their behalf’ with foreign contractors.
The top government sources privy to this major development of Balochistan package claimed that as a part of the short term strategy PM Gilani would direct the concerned secret agencies, forces and department to ensure the immediate production of all the missing persons in the province. One source said, the missing persons were being produced and released to create a friendly environment for the start of talks with the rebel leaders, Harbiyar Murree, Barahdagh Bugti and Akthar Mengal, who have been championing the cause of an independent Balochistan.
One top source claimed that these top leaders were taken into confidence by the powers that be before giving a final shape to the Balochistan Package but it might take some time before they come to the negotiating table as these leaders are likely to adopt a wait and see approach before publicly reciprocating the package initiative.
Meanwhile, in a bid to take the friendly Muslim countries into confidence before tabling the “Rahe-i- Haqooq Balochistan” package, a top federal minister, with strong links within both the PM House and Presidency, was given the task to give a secret briefing to about 50 Afro-Arabs ambassadors at the residence of Egyptian ambassador. The briefing was given to take all the ambassadors on board to counter international conspiracies being hatched to destabilize Balochistan.
Meanwhile, inside sources said, the backdoor channels unleashed by President Asif Zardari had played an important role in bringing the Baloch rebel leaders back to the negotiating table. Mr. Zardari was said to have used his Sindhi and Baloch contacts to get Baloch rebel leaders to agree to a new package on Balochistan before start of meaningful talks in the long run. These sources claimed that the PPP government in Islamabad had quietly paid a considerable amount to help Herbiyar Murree to fight a terrorism case in UK and get himself acquitted. The sources said, the amount was paid as a part of Confidence Building Measures(CBM) as PPP government greatly helped him to get the cases against him settled in the British courts. Herbiyar Murree was arrested by British Authorities in December 2007 on the request of General Musharraf. Before the arrest of Herbiyar, his brother Balach Marri was targeted and killed less than a fortnight ago. General Musharraf was using Rashid Rauf as a bargaining chip to bring Herbiyar Marri to Pakistan. But, now Islamabad has apparently taken a reconciliatory approach to soften the Baloch leader and this move may just pay dividends as PM goes to announce the new package.
Likewise, sources said, during the backdoor negotiation with Baramdagh Bugti, the PPP government had also agreed to offer him some concessions. Baramdagh was said to have asked the official negotiators to first give him a new green passport as his old one had expired.
The sources said, the establishment forces too had been in touch with Sardar Akthar Mengal on the issue of new initiatives as the Baloch leaders knew that political commitments with them would not work unless the establishment forces gave them firm assurances. The sources said, the Baloch leaders were now taking these initiatives seriously. The sources said, the abolition of cases against Akthar Mengal and his colleagues on terrorism charges during Musharraf regime had played a major role in convincing these leaders in showing flexibility and resuming a dialogue with the government.
The joint session of the parliament would continue even after the Eid so that the house could debate the new package before its approval. It was decided that a parliamentary committee would be formed to monitor the progress on this package after getting the full nod of the parliament as all these arrangements would be given a legal shape so as the Baloch rebel leadership could not find any excuse on the basis of trust deficit.
The sources said, earlier a four and half hours long meeting was presided over by the PM Gilani on Monday to give a final shape to the new package and his speech to be delivered in the joint sitting on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Khurshid Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Dr Babar Awan, Raza Rabbani, Naveed Qamar and others.
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