ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yesterday called for a new strategy of dialogue to combat militancy and urged Washington to review military action on its territory in first talks with US President Barack Obama’s envoy.
Richard Holbrooke, who has been tasked with recrafting US policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, agreed to set up a team to work with Pakistan on the review and invited officials for US talks in March, Islamabad said.
Holbrooke, who is hoping to turn around US fortunes in the battle against the Taleban and Al-Qaeda, met Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Mahmoud Qureshi.
“The prime minister underscored the need for developing a comprehensive strategy to deal with the issue of terrorism, militancy and extremism, with emphasis on dialogue and development,” said Gilani’s office.
Washington “should reconsider ... US incursions as such actions have proved counterproductive and are promoting anti-American feeling ... while severely undermining public support for the counterterrorism measures,” it added.
Since August, there have been dozens of missile strikes, believed to be launched from CIA drones, targeting militants on Pakistani territory whom US officials accuse of waging attacks across the border in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s weak civilian government has heavily criticized the raids, voicing fears of a domestic backlash in a country where more than 1,500 people have been killed in extremist attacks over the last 20 months.
Qureshi said a distinction should be drawn between hard-line and moderate Islamists. Pakistan has long advocated dialogue with moderate Taleban. “There are some irreconcilable elements and nobody wants to deal with them, neither Pakistan, nor Afghanistan nor the US, but there is a reconcilable element and we should not overlook their importance and their significance,” he said.
Washington has put together plans to send up to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, which would double the US contingent fighting against a widening Taleban-led insurgency, along with NATO forces.
But US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has not yet signed off the plans, and is waiting for a green light from the White House, which has signaled it wants to look at the strategy reviews under way first, military officials said.
Pakistan, whose relations with the United States have been strained over the missile strikes and accusations of not doing enough to counter extremism, has welcomed the announcement of the US policy review.
Qureshi praised what he called an “excellent meeting” with Holbrooke and a “new beginning” in relations. Pakistani officials said Holbrooke agreed to set up a joint team — which would include the military — to review policy and formulate a new strategy.
“This team will sit down and review all the policies and design the new strategy because they feel that for any futuristic strategy which is effective in Pakistan, it cannot be done in isolation,” Qureshi told a news conference. Holbrooke urged the Pakistani team to “visit the US in March” to complete the review before a NATO summit in April, the prime minister’s office said.
— With input from agencies
