US President Barack Obama, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzei met at the White House on Wednesday, May 6. This summit meeting, in a form of first one-on-one talks and then a tripartite meeting, took place amid growing concerns over Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, which are compromising vial U.S. interests in the region.
President Obama said during the summit Wednesday that leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States are meeting as three sovereign nations. "We meet today as three sovereign nations joined by a common goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat all Qaeda and its extremist allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan…" President Obama said, "But we must also meet the threat of extremists with a positive program of growth and opportunity."
One main objective of the United States in the three-way summit is to prompt Pakistan and Afghanistan to improve their relations and facilitate reconciliation. President Karzai acknowledged that "Pakistan and Afghanistan are conjoined twins. Our suffering is shared," whereas Preside Ali Zardari called him "my dear brother President Karzai". Both Zardari and Karzai vowed an increasing cooperation between the two countries to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Pakistan and Afghanistan signed on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding to begin talks on a transit trade agreement which ultimately allow India to use the Wagah-Khybe route for trade with Kabul, and both leaders promise to "develop an official trade agreement between their countries by the end of the year".
The agreement has been under discussion for 43 years without resolution, and so President Obama said that "Afghanistan and Pakistan have reached an 'important milestone' in their efforts to generate foreign investment and stronger economic growth and trade opportunities."
Another U.S. objective in the summit is to enhance or strengthen the determination and confidence of the Pakistani government to combat terrorism. The U.S. is much concerned about the intrusion of Taliban militants into the Bune region, Pakistan, and it has expressed its particular concern over the safety of Pakistani nuclear weapons in the light of increasing violence in the country.
President Ali Zarderi termed terrorism a "cancer", against which Pakistan, Afghanistan and the U.S. would stand together. He assured the U.S. that his country's "nuclear weapons are safe," and would not fall into the hands of Taliban terrorists.
Zardari worked hard to seek U.S. aid. He told CNN he would ask Obama to let Pakistan purchase unmanned U.S. drones for his military arsenal. The United States is expected to announce a tripled non-military aid of about 1.5 billion US dollars for Pakistan in the next five years, according to sources with the U.S. government. But some U.S. Congressmen, however, questioned if the Pakistani government will indeed use the aid to fight al Qaeda in the war on terror. Hence, Ali Zardari called on some worried U.S. Congressmen on May 5 and voiced the determination of his government to combat terrorism in all its forms.
The situation in Afghanistan is not optimistic either. An aid of 980 million US dollars to the nation is currently under deliberation in the U.S. Congress. During the three-way summit, President Obama implied to encourage the Afghan government efforts to integrate reconcilable insurgents, including spurring provincial and local governments in their capacity building efforts.
The U.S. is increasingly aware that the bombings of American jet and unmanned aircraft have led to a heavy loss of innocent civilian life in Afghanistan, which stirred up the anti-U.S. sentiments among local populace and, therefore, President Obama pledged during the summit to "make every effort to avoid civilian casualties."
On their U.S. trip, both President Zardari and President Karzai were accompanied by three or four ministers and other officials, who discussed and conferred with their U.S. counterparts on mapping out concrete items for bilateral cooperation.
Overall, the three-way summit has granted the U.S. not only the assurance that Pakistan and Afghanistan will coordinate efforts to stamp out terrorism but also both Pakistan and Afghanistan a generous commitment for the firm, resolute political support and military and economic aid.
In another related development, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived in Kabul on Wednesday for a surprise visit to "to get a sense from the ground level" about how operations are going in Afghanistan in the light of a new strategy, new US ambassador and the influx of 21,000 additional U.S. troops.
Afghan Police said on Monday, or May 4 that 25 more Taliban militants had died in the fierce fighting and three policemen were killed along a loss of several dozen civilian lives.
Meanwhile, as Pakistan widened the crackdown of Taliban, according to local television reports, 62 militants were killed on May 6. More than 60 militants, five troopers and 35 civilians were slain during assaults backed by artillery and helicopter gunships, amphibious assault crafts and ammunition and various supplies necessary to support the amphibious mission.
Due in part to a troop increase by both sides and a possible intensification of insurgency, a lot of local Pakistanis fled home. At present, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) can hardly handle or cope with the large-scale transfer of civilians, and the NWFP can now do nothing but to request Pakistan's central government to provide emergency assistance.
By People's Daily Online and contributed by senior PD resident reporter in US Li Xuejiang and PD resident reporter in India Ren Yan
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