While speaking at the North Atlantic Council (NAC) of Nato, one of the most important forums in the organisation, said a message received here from Brussels. The Foreign Minister gave Pakistan's perspective on the challenges faced by Pakistan and the security situation in the region.
Pakistan has an enlightened self-interest in peace and stability in Afghanistan as it is essential to forge economic linkages that will not only bring development to the war torn region but will ensure peace and prosperity as well, he added. The Foreign Minister also briefed the participants on Pakistan's military operations in Swat and Malakand. These operations were launched with the support of the public and the political parties and have been a huge success, he informed.
Within only three months of the launching of military operation, the writ of the government was restored, terrorists were eliminated, he said, adding most importantly the displaced people were not only looked after but rehabilitated and normal life was restored in Swat. Similarly the operation in South Waziristan has been completed in five weeks, he said.
The Foreign Minister reiterated Pakistan's firm commitment to fighting militancy and terrorism. However, he added the successes achieved in Swat and Waziristan can only be sustained if we initiate development work, provide employment, restore business confidence, help build their shops and houses destroyed by extremists.
"We have to rebuild school, colleges of boys and girls destroyed by terrorists. Rebuilding infrastructure in Swat alone would cost around $2 billion," he added. Pakistan has suffered massive losses due to extremism and terrorism. The cost of war on terror since 2004 has been estimated to be in the range of 40-50 billion dollars, he added.
Qureshi said, in 2009 alone, nearly 5000 people lost their lives and more than 12000 were injured. More than 2000 security personnel lost their lives in the military operations. The indirect costs include drop in investment, inability to proceed with the development work, loss of production time and high cost of supporting displaced persons, flight of capital and closure of business activity, he said.
The Foreign Minister said it is imperative that in areas cleared by the security forces, the developmental activities are launched immediately. For that Pakistan seeks help of the international community in the shape of greater market access for its exports and investment in the country, he said, adding that will create more industries, more employment and less terrorism.
Unemployed youth will not become an easy prey to the extremist predators, the Foreign Minister emphasised, he added. While talking about relations with India, he said that India is an important neighbour with whom Pakistan would like to maintain peaceful and friendly relations based on sovereign equality and mutual respect.
In our quest to have a stable, peaceful, prosperous South Asia, we were engaged in a peace process with India for the resolution of all our outstanding disputes including Kashmir, Siachen and water. Good progress on instituting nuclear and conventional confidence building measures was made, he stressed.
Trade between the two countries had increased from 300 million dollars in 2003 to 1.3 billions dollars in 2007. Both Pakistan and India were reaping the benefits of the peace process, he added. Unfortunately, he said the dialogue process was disrupted due to the Mumbai terrorist attacks which were condemned by Pakistan.
Mumbai should have provided us an opportunity to fight the forces of extremists and terrorists instead the process got stalled, he added. Pakistan too has suffered Mumbai type attacks on a regular basis. Those who carry out such attacks are enemies of both India and Pakistan.
It is imperative to resume the dialogue process to address all our issues and resolve them in accordance with International legality, justice and fair play, he said. He emphasised that both countries need to give up the wooden headed approach that is being followed since the last 63 years.
Earlier, the Foreign Minister held a meeting with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General Nato. During the meeting, Nato Secretary General commended the current democratic government for its bold decision to fight terrorism in order to restore peace in the area. He said that the world appreciated the sacrifices made by the people and the Armed Forces of Pakistan in their resolve to root out militancy.