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| India-Pakistan |
| Govt committed to restoring democracy: Ambassador Durrani |
| 2007-11-13 |
| Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Mahmud Ali Durrani on Monday rejected negative projections about the country, underscoring the government’s commitment to put Pakistan back on the democratic path and also quashing concerns about the safety of its strategic assets. In an appearance on the public C-SPAN channel, the envoy was confident that the country would survive the current situation and successfully confront the challenges facing it. The envoy said that the emergency had been imposed to stem further deterioration in law and order and avert a standoff between the judiciary and the executive and would likely be lifted before elections slated for the first week of January 2008. Weapons safe: “Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are as safe as any nuclear weapons in the world - in fact, they are safer than the American nuclear weapons - so I don’t think there is a need to worry.” “Because we will have elections, we will have democracy, we will live through this,” he emphasised. Durrani was asked to comment on views expressed by Democratic contender Senator Joseph Biden in an article in The Baltimore Sun newspaper in which the lawmaker acknowledged Pakistan’s democratic traditions and the existence of a large moderate majority but expressed concerns about the possibility of extremists gaining influence in future. In response to another question, the envoy said President General Pervez Musharraf avoided the imposition of emergency rule but had to make the difficult decision to prevent law and order turmoil in the country. He reaffirmed President Musharraf’s commitment to hold elections and relinquish the post of army chief before taking oath for his next term. “I think the emergency rule will probably end before the election,” he told the audience in the interactive programme. No international interference: Asked to comment on an article regarding proliferation by nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, which was published in The Washington Post on Sunday, the ambassador said Pakistan took action against Dr AQ Khan and the country has cooperated with the international atomic energy agency and shared information. “There is not an issue (any longer), not a problem,” he said. At the same time, Durrani categorically reiterated that Pakistan would not hand over the scientist to any other country. Pakistan, he said, remains strongly committed to fighting terrorism and reminded the audience about the South Asian ally’s critical efforts in the global anti-terror campaign. |
| Posted by:Fred |