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'Pak, Afghan must lead efforts to combat extremism'
(PTI) Pakistan and Afghanistan must lead efforts to combat extremism along their restive border, President Asif Ali Zardari and British Premier Gordon Brown said here today while side-stepping the issue of the US missile attacks in the volatile region. "It was for the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to lead the efforts to combat this extremism, with the support of the international community," the two leaders said in a joint statement after their meeting at the 10, Downing Street.However, they refrained from mentioning the controversial cross-border raids on the Pakistani soil by the US-led forces in Afghanistan which have led to tension between Islamabad and Washington. During their over two-hour talks, Brown and Zardari agreed that the UK and Pakistan had a shared agenda in tackling violent extremism in both countries. "They noted that there was a particularly acute problem with extremism emanating from the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region. This had an impact on Pakistan as much as anywhere else, but was also impacting on UK forces in Afghanistan," the statement said. Brown and Zardari noted that it was the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan who suffered most directly from such extremism. They also agreed that a stable and strong democracy in Pakistan would play an important role in promoting peace in the region. The Prime Minister and President welcomed the on-going collaboration between the UK and Pakistani governments to tackle violent extremism and radicalisation. They agreed to enhance this cooperation in support of a comprehensive approach by the government of Pakistan. Posted by: Fred 2008-09-17 |
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