Pakistan FM at Council on Foreign Relations

(7 Oct 2009) SHOTLIST 1. Wide of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's Foreign Minister at the Council for Foreign Relations 2. Cutaway of audience 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's Foreign Minister: "The bill commits assistance for the people of Pakistan for the next 5 years and voices the desire to sustain US support for the succeeding 5 years as well. Pakistan's democratic leadership is convinced that terrorists and their sympathisers can best be defeated in building a better future for the impoverished people of our country and of our immediate neighbourhood. US assistance in this effort is not just aid, it is investment in American and global security." 4. Cutaway of Qureshi at podium 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's Foreign Minister: "All we ask the United States and the international community is to provide us the tools, both military and economic, to effectively deal with the threat that we both face. Delays in military re-imbursements and lack of military equipment inevitable hamper our efforts." 6. Cutaway of Qureshi being asked about General Stanley McChrystal troop request for Afghanistan 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's Foreign Minister: "I'm not in a position to take such decisions; nor I'm in that business. We are friends and we are allies and we have a common objective, and the common objective is to defeat the terrorists and contain extremism. What we should do in my opinion; we should consult each other. Obviously the military commanders are giving their assessment of their situation in Afghanistan to President Obama. Once they've done that it would be useful in my opinion if the military leadership of Pakistan, and we do have mind you a tri-partite (Pakistan, Afghanistan, US) mechanism in place through consultations, if that assessment is shared with our military leadership." 8. Cutaway of Qureshi shaking hands with journalist STORYLINE Pakistan's foreign minister said on Wednesday that a proposed multi (b) billion dollar US aid package is crucial to Islamabad's efforts to fight extremists. Shah Mahmood Qureshi played down a statement by Pakistan's military that it had serious concerns about aid seen by many in his country as a sign of US meddling. Qureshi also told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations that Pakistan and the United States should strengthen consultations as the US President Barack Obama administration decides whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. The US aid bill would provide Pakistan with 1.5 (b) billion US dollars a year over the next five years to spend on democratic, economic and social development programmes. It also allows the necessary sums for aid to the military as it fights militants who have wreaked havoc in Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan. Pakistan's military, in an unusual public statement on Wednesday, expressed serious concern about the bill, comments that could bolster opponents of the weak US-backed civilian administration in Islamabad. The bill, US officials say, is meant to alleviate widespread poverty. But many Pakistanis see it as a sign of unwanted US influence. Qureshi said that Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, key backers of the bill, assured him on Tuesday that the economic aid has no conditions attached. He said criticism of the aid in Pakistan is part of the "beauty of a democracy," where differing points of view are natural. On US worries that Pakistan would not spend huge amounts of US aid properly, he said it is in his country's interest to make sure the money goes where it is supposed to go. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...