Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said during a two-day visit in Islamabad that the United States is committed to helping Pakistan meet the economic and social development needs of the Pakistani people and to achieving mutual security goals.
“We are not doing this out of some definition of charity, and we are not trying to purchase friendship,” Clinton said during a meeting with Pakistani civil society and an interview with Moeed Pirzada of Pakistan Television October 21 at Islamabad’s Serena Hotel. “We actually believe that a prosperous, peaceful Pakistan is more likely to be a stable, secure Pakistan, and we think that is good for everyone, first and foremost Pakistanis, the region and the world, including Americans.”
Clinton, in her fourth visit to Pakistan as secretary of state, met October 21 with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar following a longer meeting on October 20 with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and senior Pakistani military and intelligence officials for high-level consultations. Joining Clinton were CIA Director David Petraeus and General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Clinton’s visit to Pakistan is part of an extended visit to the region that has included stops in Malta, Libya, Oman and Afghanistan. Clinton visited Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital, October 22 for talks before traveling to Uzbekistan on October 23.
“We share a vision of a sovereign, self-sufficient and democratic Pakistan; a Pakistan at peace and trading with its neighbors and full of opportunities for both men and women,” Clinton said during her interview with Pirzada. In the last year, the United States has provided $2 billion in civilian assistance to Pakistan.
The next element in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship is to move from aid to trade, Clinton said. The Obama administration is working with Congress to create an enterprise fund designed to jump-start Pakistani businesses and a two-way investment treaty designed to attract trade, investment and create jobs, Clinton added.
U.S. assistance programs in Pakistan have been focused on developing a more reliable electric grid, building crucial roads, irrigating hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland and funding educational scholarships. “And when the flood waters rose, America rushed in to save lives, help communities recover, at the cost of about $900 million,” the secretary said.
Clinton acknowledged that it is the Pakistani people who hold the key to their nation’s prosperity.
Clinton said that Pakistan’s economic and political success also depends on closer links with its neighbors. “We believe that, over time, Pakistan could and should become a hub that connects South and Central Asia on what we are calling a New Silk Road that binds together a region held back by rivalry and war,” she said.
And Clinton said Pakistan has the opportunity “to show regional leadership by helping to end the insurgency on both sides of the border, and help bring about peace and reconciliation.”