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Date: 07/04/2009   

JOINT PRESS STAKEOUT BY FOREIGN MINISTER MAKHDOOM SHAH MAHMOOD QURESHI, US SPECIAL ENVOY RICHARD HOLBROOKE AND
ADMIRAL MIKE MULLEN IN ISLAMABAD ON 7 APRIL 2009

Foreign Minister Qureshi’s statement

I welcome Mr. Holbrooke and Admiral Mike Mullen.

Pakistan appreciated the statement made by President Obama in Ankara:  The statement of engaging with Muslim world and engaging with respect.  He said that we are not at war with Islam and we respect Islam.  That is a very positive statement. I want to be on record to have appreciated that. 

We have had good talks and frank and candid discussions this morning.  We had discussions on the way forward.  As you know the new strategy has been announced.  The concepts have been put in front of you. Now we reach the stage of implementation and we had discussions in that regard.  I want to announce that we have agreed on dates of engagement in Washington. We will have a trilateral engagement in Washington on the 6th and 7th of May in which the military and civilians components from Pakistan, Afghanistan and United States will participate.  Pakistan has decided at its own to have a national strategy to deal with the economic and security challenges that we face. As you know Prime Minister Gilani chaired a meeting yesterday in which the Provincial Chief Executives were invited to have a discussion on what should be the national strategy. 

In our discussions today, there were a host of elements which were appreciated.  The facts that Obama Administration has expressed solidarity with the people of Pakistan, has pledged support for democracy, announced tenfold increase in economic assistance to Pakistan, expressed desire to address our capacity needs vis-à-vis counterterrorism are some of the positive elements and we recognize and appreciate them.  But there are certain red lines. In our discussions today I did flag those red lines and I will take them up when we meet in Washington.  The terms of engagement are very clear as far as Pakistan and I am concerned.  We will engage with mutual trust and mutual respect in view and that is the bottom line.  We did talk about drones and let me be very frank; there is a gap between us and them and I want to bridge that gap. I will continue to talk about that when we meet in Washington.  The bottom line is the question of trust. We are partners and we want to be the partners.  We can only work together if we respect each other and trust each other.  There is no other way and nothing else will work.  That was the message which was also put across.

We have said and I repeat; no blank cheques.  We neither accept nor give one.  We have to understand what they are saying and they have to understand what we are saying.  There is a convergence of interests. 

There is a threat to Pakistan and that is my primary concern.   My people, my cities, my country is under threat and we have to get our act together to face the menace and we will.  We are grateful for help and we are grateful to the Friends of Pakistan who are helping Pakistan. I also want to bring on record the statements and the advocacy carried out by Secretary Clinton at The Hague when she spoke for Pakistan with passion, when she invited people to Tokyo.  I also note what Ambassador Holbrooke has been doing with friends on the quiet; soliciting support and pledges for Pakistan and we appreciate that.  So we are moving on to Tokyo.  We have certain expectations from the Friends of Democratic Pakistan.  Most importantly these expectations are not cents and dollars rather it’s the political support that Pakistan expects from Friends and hopefully we will get that. 

 I once gain thank you Ambassador Holbrooke for coming to Islamabad.

Ambassador Holbrooke’s Statement

Admiral Mullen and I were invited to be here.  I want to add to what Foreign Minister Qureshi has said.  I just want to point out ------ that has emerged in the first few weeks of Obama’s Administration.  I want to underscore the Foreign Minister’s comments about new and constructive engagements. This is my second trip since the inauguration of Obama’s Administration. However, Admiral Mullen has visited Pakistan many times. In line with Foreign Minister Qureshi’s suggestions, we hosted the first Pakistan-Afghanistan-US trilateral meeting in Washington. We also went to The Hague together to bring attention to Afghanistan. We will go to Tokyo together in two weeks time to have two back-to-back meetings which include Friends of Democratic Pakistan and Donor Conference in which our country will make a substantial pledge. We hope others will join us as Secretary Clinton and President Obama had urged.

As the Foreign Minister has just announced, we will have the second round of trilateral conference in Washington on May 6 and 7.  This is the pattern that will continue because we believe that Pakistan and American interests run in parallel.  Pakistan and the United States face a common strategic threat, a common enemy and a common challenge and, therefore, a common task. We have had a long and complicated history between the two countries. We cannot put the past behind for we must learn from it and move forward. 

Admiral Mullen’s statement

I am glad to be here again representing the civilian and military regime of the United States of America.  I am very much dedicated to the vitality and importance of this relationship.  This commitment is a long-term commitment that I hope it will generate a surplus of trust as that is absolutely vital.  Our interests in the region, as Ambassador Holbrooke said, overlap significantly.  Our commitment to this region will continue.  The purpose of these engagements is to understand each other’s expectations and to listen to the people and Government of Pakistan.  This is about the people of Pakistan and the people of United States and we will continue these constructive engagements.

Questions/Answers Session:

Q:      Mr. Qureshi, you made reference to red lines in your statement on Pakistan’s new strategy and I am wondering what sort of US assistance you think will be appropriate? My question to Ambassador Holbrooke and Admiral Mullen:  What sort of security assistance will the US provide to Pakistan in respect of new strategy?

A:      FM Qureshi: I am grateful to the Obama Administration for being sensitive towards the red lines that I have mentioned in Washington during my first interaction. I said no foreign boots on Pakistani soil, we cannot accept that. They have announced it very categorically and clearly that they respect Pakistan’s point of view.  There are other areas of concern as I mentioned and we will talk about them in Washington.  

          Ambassador Holbrooke:  On security assistance obviously we have to get the Congressional approval but we are going to work actively with Pakistan’s military establishment.  We want to help them in dealing with the new emerging threat that they are facing on the western front.

Q:      There had been protests by the Government and the people of Pakistan against the drone attacks carried out by the US. There seems to be trust deficit between the two sides. Why is it that the US does not provide the means and expertise to Pakistan so that it’s military carries out the precision attacks against the militants itself?

A:      Admiral Mullen:  I mentioned earlier that it is important for us to seek surplus of trust.  Our armed forces underwent a dramatic transformation as a result of the counter-insurgency operations inside Iraq.  It took us a while to adapt to the changes and now we have the best counter insurgency force in the world. We want to share the lessons that we have learnt and that is why I have been to Pakistan so frequently in the past few months. I want to understand the challenges that exist here for Pakistan’s military and then to assist them in overcoming those.  We are moving very comprehensively in that direction and that approach has strongly been endorsed by the Obama Administration.