Associated Press Of Pakistan ( Pakistan's Premier NEWS Agency ) - US defends new military aid to Pakistan for counterinsurgency operations

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 26 (APP): Pakistan was re-elected Monday to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the economic arm of the UN, for the third consecutive year, with Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon calling it a “fabulous victory”. “It’s a fabulous victory for Pakistan. It reflects the prestige Pakistan enjoys in the international community,” the top Pakistani diplomat told APP after Pakistan polled 149 votes in balloting at the 192-member General Assembly.

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (APP): Pakistan has a role to play in Afghan reconciliation process and a political element is important to resolving the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, according to a senior United States envoy. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke rejected the assertion that Pakistan army is opposed to Afghan reconciliation.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 25 (APP): Pakistan was re-elected Monday to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the economic arm of the UN, for the third consecutive year, with Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon calling it a “fabulous victory”. “It’s a fabulous victory for Pakistan. It reflects the prestige Pakistan enjoys in the international community,” the top Pakistani diplomat told APP after Pakistan polled 149 votes in balloting at the 192-member General Assembly.

LONDON, Oct 25 (APP)- Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, the former prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and leader of the People’s Muslim League (PML), underscored the need to resolve the Kashmir issue, which, he said, remained a flash point for a major conflagration not only in South Asia but for world at large.

LONDON, Oct 25 (APP)-The UK-based Association of Pakistani Lawyers on Monday condemned terrorist bomb attack at the shrine of “Baba Farid Ganj Shakkar” in Pakpattan and demanded a stern action against those outlawed elements in the state.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 25 (APP): Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi hoped his beleaguered side is focused enough to counter a spirited South African team in the back-to-back Twenty20 matches starting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Pakistan’s recent tour to England was rocked by spot-fixing allegations which prompted a Scotland Yard investigation and the suspension of three of their players by the International Cricket Council, a private TV channel reported.

KARACHI, Oct. 25 (APP)- Former President International Cricket Council (ICC) Ehsan Mani is disgruntled over the conduct of the game’s ruling body in connection with Indian Test batsman Suresh Raina. Controversy hit the Indian cricket when a news report claimed that during the recent tour of Sri Lanka, Indian batsman Suresh Raina was seen in the company of a woman known to be an associate of a man allegedly linked to a bookmaker.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 25 (APP): President of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has said US $400,000 donation from international governing body of football (FIFA) vice president Chung Mong Joon will go a long way in helping Pakistani football stand back on its feet.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 25 (APP): Top ranked tennis players have confirmed their participation in the 8th Subh-e-Nau (SN) National Clay Court Tennis Championship, starting from Wednesday at Pakistan Tennis Federation Complex Tennis Courts here.

WASHINGTON, Oct 23, (APP): A State Department spokesman has defended the new US $2.29 billion military aid package to Pakistan, saying the South Asian country was a “strategic partner” in counter-insurgency operations.“We are supporting the Pakistan military because it is in our mutual interest to do so. Pakistan is a strategic partner,” Spokesman Philip Crowley said in response to a series of questions from Indian journalists voicing New Delhi’s concerns over the move.

“It’s a vitally important partner in counterinsurgency operations and counter terrorism activities, and it is in our national interest to continue to support Pakistan,” he told reporters at the regular briefing on Friday.
Pressed further on the military aid package, Crowley said, “(This is something that benefits Pakistan. It benefits the United States, and we think it benefits the region as a whole. We want to see a secure, stable, peaceful region.“It is in our interest expressly because there are extremists in the region that threaten countries there and countries here in the West.
We want to see a continuation of the kind of determined effort that Pakistan has shown over the past year or so, and what we’re seeing here is an investment in the very capabilities that we believe can help Pakistan continue to carry out its counterinsurgency responsibilities.” Asked if there were any safeguards in the aid package to prevent Pakistan from diverting the money from counter-insurgency purposes, Crowley said, .
“Well, all countries are sovereign, but by the same token, we’ve tailored this package we believe to improve training and equipping that is focused on our counter- insurgency programmes,” he said.
Under intense questioning, Crowley also said the that US ties with Pakistan do not come at the expense of India and vice-versa. “This is a subject (India’s concerns about US military assistance to Pakistan) that comes up in all of our discussions with high-level Indian officials. It comes up in all of our discussions with high-level Pakistani officials,” he said.
“We continue to provide the same message to both countries. This is not a zero-sum proposition. Our assistance to Pakistan does not come at the expense of India, and our relationship with India does not come at the expense of Pakistan,” he said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the military aid package at the concluding session of U.S.-Pakistan strategic dialogue, with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on her side.
She also announced another 29 million aid to Pakistan in International Military Education and Training (IMET), thus increasing the total aid package to USD 2.29 billion.
Qureshi thanked the U.S. for the assistance and rejects media reports about tensions in the relations between the two countries.
“Prophets of doom are back in business, painting doomsday scenarios about our alliance. They are dead wrong.”

Islamabad, Pakistan

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