WASHINGTON (Agencies) – The United States and Pakistan have agreed to fast-track pending Pakistani requests for military equipment as the two step up security cooperation, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Wednesday.
“We’ve agreed to fast-track our requests, that have been pending for months and years, on the transfer of military equipment to Pakistan,” FM Qureshi told a news conference following a day of talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
He said US suspicions of his country have evaporated, with officials no longer questioning IslamabadÂ’s commitment to fight extremism.
Qureshi, who was holding a first-of-a-kind “strategic dialogue” with the US, said “the mood was completely different” from previous visits to Washington.
“I was at the Senate; I was at the House. It’s a 180-degree difference,” he said.
“There were no more question marks, there was no suspicion, there was no ‘do more,’” he said. “There was appreciation for what we had already done.”
WednesdayÂ’s dialogue is part of efforts by the United States to show it has a long-term interest in relations with Pakistan beyond cooperation to fight in Afghanistan.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appearing with Qureshi, announced support for PakistanÂ’s energy and transport sectors as part of a high-level dialogue aimed at showing greater US interest. She said Washington will give $125m financial aid to Islamabad for boosting the energy sector and will extend cooperation for setting up three thermal power projects in Pakistan.
She said the US would sign a letter for “significant road infrastructure” in Pakistan’s troubled northwest without offering a figure.
She further said the US has also agreed to let Pakistan International Airlines fly to Chicago via Barcelona. It will be the flag carrierÂ’s second destination in the United States after New York.
The PIA will be allowed to operate in five American cities, the chief US diplomat stated.
USAID, the government agency, will also sign a deal for three thermal rehabilitation plans to help ease PakistanÂ’s chronic energy shortages, she said.
The US government will also give financial assistance to Pakistan for Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
The United States has already committed to $7.5b in aid over five years in a law approved last year.
Pakistani products will be given access to US markets, she said.
“Pakistan is on the frontline of confronting the violent extremism that threatens us all and Pakistan’s civilian and security forces continue to bear the brunt of that fight,” she said.
Hillary said the US supported dialogue between India and Pakistan, after Islamabad appealed for a larger US role on Kashmir.
Qureshi, taking part in high-level talks that the US hopes will show goodwill, called for a “constructive engagement” by the United States on Kashmir.
Asked about his remarks later at the joint news conference, Hillary said the US supported reconciliation efforts between India and Pakistan.
“The issues that are part of that dialogue need to be addressed and resolution of them between the two countries would certainly be in everyone’s best interest,” she said, without explicitly mentioning Kashmir.
She said the US wanted to be a partner of Pakistan on “a full range of matters.”
“We can’t dictate Pakistani foreign policy or Indian foreign policy. But we can encourage, as we do, the in-depth discussion between both countries that we think would benefit each of them with respect to security and development,” she said.
Qureshi hoped that India will review its policy.
Earlier in the day, Hillary Clinton said the United States had started a “new day” with Pakistan in hearing its concerns, but some of Islamabad’s requests were set for a cool reception.
Mrs Clinton opened a first-of-a-kind “strategic dialogue” with Pakistan, hoping to show the country’s widely anti-American public that the United States wants a relationship that goes beyond short-term battles against militants.
In an early-morning ceremony timed for broadcast in Pakistan, Mrs Clinton said she wanted to speak directly to its people, acknowledging that the two nations “have had our misunderstandings and disagreements in the past.”
Pointing to Pakistan’s growing action against extremism, Mrs Clinton pledged full support, saying, “Its struggles are our struggles.” “There are sure to be more disagreements in the future, as there are between any friends or, frankly, any family members,” she said. “But this is a new day. For the past year, the Obama administration has shown in our words and deeds a different approach and attitude towards Pakistan.”
“The dialogue we seek is not only with the government of Pakistan, but you the people of Pakistan,” she said, vowing that both she and President Barack Obama had a “personal commitment” to building ties with Islamabad.
The United States invited General Ashfaq Kayani, the army chief, to take part in the dialogue, along with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Qureshi looked for improved ties with Washington, a close ally in fighting against militants as the United States battles the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
“Now is the time to look forward,” said Qureshi in his opening remarks. “Such a partnership, we are convinced, is good for Pakistan, good for America and good for international peace, security and prosperity,” he added.
Qureshi expressed gratitude for US assistance and pledged that Pakistan would keep up the fight against extremism. But he made clear that Pakistan wanted benefits in return.
Qureshi said that Pakistan was seeking “non-discriminatory” access to energy resources as well as a “constructive” role by the United States on its dispute with India over Kashmir.
“Pakistan is committed to doing its part to facilitate the world community’s effort for peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Qureshi said. “We hope the world community will be equally responsive to our legitimate concerns and help advance common interests,” he said. Pakistan has long sought international intervention on Kashmir, which has been the focal point of two of the nations’ three full-fledged wars with India.
The United States has declined mediation on Kashmir, which India considers a domestic issue. India has said it is willing to engage in dialogue on all issues related to Kashmir except redrawing borders.
Pakistan has said it wants a civilian nuclear deal with the United States similar to a landmark agreement reached by India in 2008. The rival nations stunned the world with nuclear tests in 1998.
US special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, and Mrs Clinton both played down any talks on nuclear cooperation, indicating this could be a source of tensions in two days of talks.
“Let’s just see how it develops,” said Holbrooke. “We’re ready to listen to anything.”
Asked by a Pakistani TV if nuclear cooperation could assuage the country’s chronic energy shortages, Mrs Clinton said there were “more immediate steps that can be taken” including upgrading power plants.
“India and Pakistan, we have been in this together in South Asia, so what is good for India should be good for Pakistan,” Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told reporters.
“We have a relationship that goes back 60 years, but I’m here to build a partnership,” Qureshi said Tuesday at the Pakistani embassy. “And when you build a partnership, it has to be built on trust.”
Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is also a key player in the Washington meetings and Holbrooke said the military was crucial to any future relationship with Pakistan.
Pakistan is also seeking greater cooperation on water and education and wants unmanned attack drones. The United States has so far only given Pakistan surveillance drones.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell downplayed expectations for major announcements, saying it was a mistake to see the dialogue as “a discussion of requests and replies.”
Qureshi and Kayani met Tuesday with Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, who authored last yearÂ’s bill that promised 7.5 billion dollars in aid over five years to build PakistanÂ’s infrastructure and democratic institutions.
Many Pakistanis are distrustful of the United States, remembering how it distanced itself in the 1990s after teaming up with Islamabad to arm Jihadists who ousted Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
Holbrooke said that the dialogue – which will include working groups on Thursday and further rounds in Islamabad – was part of a “strategic vision” by the United States.
“That is that Pakistan is important in its own right. We don’t view it simply as a function of its giant neighbour to the east or its war-torn neighbour to the west,” Holbrooke said.
Bashir said many Pakistanis had grown irritated by US calls for the country to do more against extremists.
“Pakistan has done much more. We are doing it for our own sake,” he said. “So I think it’s perhaps best not to get into that argument.”