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Joe Biden awarded Hilal-i-Pakistan
President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday conferred one of Pakistan's highest civilian honours on US Vice President-elect Joseph Biden in recognition of his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development" in the country.The ceremony for conferring the Hilal-i-Pakistan award, which was held at the presidency here, was attended by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and US Ambassador Anne W Patterson. The citation for the award said Biden was being recognised for his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development in Pakistan and for his outstanding contribution to the strengthening of US-Pakistan relations".
Biden, as a Senator, co-sponsored the Biden-Kerry-Lugar legislation for expanding socio-economic aid to Pakistan USD 15 billion over next five fiscal years besides advocating an additional USD 7.5 billion over the subsequent five years. They get billions of our money, Joe gets a swell award. You're welcome, Joe... The bill calls for tripling non-military aid to Pakistan to 1.5 billion dollars annually during 2009-13 while making military aid conditional on certification that Pakistani security forces were working to prevent al-Qaida and its allies from operating in Pakistan or launching attacks into Afghanistan from its territory. Earlier on January 5, Zardari had conferred top civilian honour 'Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam' on US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher for his role in promoting "stable, broad-based and long-term" bilateral ties. Posted by: john frum 2009-01-10 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=259464 |