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U.S. assurance to Pakistan on security front

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Sept. 20. The United States has given a commitment to Pakistan to take up its requests for consideration of more security assistance, particularly in maintaining conventional capabilities and enhancing counter-terrorism capabilities.

The assurance was given at the five-day meeting of the U.S.-Pakistan Defence Cooperation Group (DCG), which concluded in Washington on Thursday. It was the second meeting of the Group, revived after Pakistan joined the U.S.-led coalition in the war against terrorism.

The defence requirements of Pakistan in the context of persistent complaints by Islamabad of a growing imbalance in the sphere of conventional weapons vis-à-vis India and the ways to tackle remnants of the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban dominated the meeting.

A joint statement issued at the end of the deliberations said that the U.S. affirmed its commitment to expedite security assistance obligations to Pakistan, especially equipment requests and deliveries, and to identify ways to further streamline procedures. The U.S. side agreed to study ways in which it could assist in disposing of obsolete equipments of U.S. origin in storage in Pakistan. "The Pakistan-U.S. defence relationship is a critical element of the global war on terrorism and key to the security and stability of South Asia," it said.

The Group, co-chaired by the U.S. Under-Secretary of Defence, Douglas J. Feith, and the Pakistan Defence Secretary, Hamid Nawaz Khan, is envisaged as a primary forum for exchanging ideas and coordinating policies regarding the war on terrorism and other defence and security issues affecting the U.S.-Pakistan relationship. The Military Cooperative Consultations group agreed to a schedule of military-to-military and training activities for the rest of the year and into the next.

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