David Cameron pledges 'fresh start' with Pakistan - PakPassion

Gabbar Singh

How has Dave's visit been seen in Pakistan?

Just another Western leader calling or has this been 'big' news?

Quote:

David Cameron has said he wants a "fresh start" in relations with Pakistan as he offered £650m in aid and better security co-operation.

On his first trip to Pakistan since becoming UK prime minister, he said he wanted to foster mutual trust.

Last year he provoked anger when he accused elements in Pakistan of promoting the "export of terror".

On Tuesday, he pledged to create a "new era" and to "clear up the misunderstandings of the past".

At a news conference with the Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Mr Cameron said he believed the Pakistani government was committed to fighting terrorism within its borders but said it was "not unhelpful" to urge its ally to do everything it could to tackle the threat.

"What you see in Pakistan today is a huge fight taking place by the government against terrorism and Pakistan has lost many, many people in that fight," he said.

After taking part in the first meeting of the UK-Pakistan National Security Dialogue - a civilian and military counter-terrorism forum - Mr Cameron said there would be increased co-operation at the "sharp end" to disrupt the work of terrorist groups.

"We have no higher shared priority than tackling terrorism together," he added.

"That means challenging the extremist ideology that fuels it and ensuring effective operational co-operation between our police and intelligence agencies."
'New era'

He was criticised last year for claiming that Pakistan "looked both ways" when it came to the issue.

On Tuesday he said: "Let us make this the start of a new era in the relations between our countries, our governments and our peoples. Let us clear up the misunderstandings of the past, work through the tensions of the present and look together to the opportunities of the future.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

We have no higher shared priority than tackling terrorism together”

End Quote David Cameron UK Prime Minister

"A Pakistan that is safe for its citizens, free from the threat of terror on your doorstep and in your neighbourhood, a Britain working alongside you for our mutual benefit."

The BBC's deputy political editor, James Landale said Mr Cameron was offering to share the UK's expertise in fighting roadside bombs at a new centre being established in Pakistan.

The site, near Peshawar in the north-west of the country, will provide training in detection and forensic investigation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as bomb disposal.

British officials have played down fears of links between the Pakistani security services and the Taliban, James Landale added, insisting they were no longer providing support to the insurgency in Afghanistan and were committed to defeating them both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr Cameron is being accompanied on his trip by the head of the armed forces, General Sir David Richards head of MI6, Sir John Sawers.
'Good friend'

The prime minister, who earlier visited a school and Pakistan's national mosque, also pledged £650m of additional aid for Pakistan's schools system.
David Cameron meeting pupils at the Islamabad Schools for Girls The UK will offer Pakistan £650m to help more children go to primary school

He said the four-year package of support would help an extra four million children go to primary schools, train an extra 90,000 teachers and provide six million text books.

He defended the initiative, at a time when spending on public services including education is being cut in the UK, as an "investment for Britain".

"I would struggle to find a country that is more in Britain's interests to see progress and succeed than Pakistan," he added. "If Pakistan is a success, we will have a good friend to trade with and deal with in the future.

"If we fail, we will have all the problems of migration and extremism that we don't want to see. It is in our interests that Pakistan succeeds."

But he warned that Pakistan must do more to provide for their own public services, including tax reform and making the rich pay more.

Mr Gilani said illiteracy was at the "root cause" of extremism, adding that Pakistan had paid a "heavy price" for its fight against terrorism - losing 30,000 people to domestic attacks.

More broadly, Mr Cameron said there was no question about the strength of UK-Pakistan links.

"Britain's friendship with Pakistan is unbreakable," he said. "From the grassroots links between our peoples, with [the] one million-strong Pakistan diaspora in the UK and 1.4 million journeys between Pakistan and the UK every single year."

The two leaders also agreed to seek to double bilateral trade to £2.5bn by 2025.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12967819

Markhor

How many times have we heard that mantra ?

'Fresh start','Unbreakable friendship'

Too much rhetoric and PR from Cameron,who is clearly on a charm offensive as he certainly insulted a lot of people with his state multiculturalism speech and the Wikileaks revelation where he said 'We let in a lot of crazies'.

However,better a friend than a foe.

GOAT

Is he scheduled to visit India? I'm sure he'll say the opposite of what he just said there. That's usually the case with world leaders.

Maula Jutt

Yada yada yada.

Looney

The West needs to do more

Down2Earth

expect him to stab us in the back in the near future

KingKhanWC

Good drama by Cameron. Aid is only given to those goverments and regimes which fully support the foriegn policy of Britain. Most of the aid is eaten before it reaches the people and is nothing short of back handers to corrupt polititions.

Toony™®

£650m to spent on 90000 teachers teaching 4m kids...

how much of that will get to them...who knows...

Robert

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingKhanWC

Good drama by Cameron. Aid is only given to those goverments and regimes which fully support the foriegn policy of Britain. Most of the aid is eaten before it reaches the people and is nothing short of back handers to corrupt polititions.

Well, if the £650M that British taxpayers have just given to Pakistan does not get to the children, that is not Cameron's fault.

Levity

They want a peaceful Pakistan at the moment, as Pakistan has the capacity to secretly ally Libya in the current invasion by the West. Clever politics.

Robert

Quote:

Originally Posted by Levity

They want a peaceful Pakistan at the moment, as Pakistan has the capacity to secretly ally Libya in the current invasion by the West. Clever politics.

Which side would this secret Pakistani aid ally with - Gaddafi or the rebels?

Cpt. Rishwat

Just reading through some online papers this pledge of aid doesn't seem to have gone down very well in Britain either. The popular rags led by the Sun are running headlines it has sparked "fury". Most people are commenting that the money should be spent at home. I agree with this and in that case British troops should pull out of Afghanistan and stop giving money to Pakistani troops to fight the war on terrorists.

GOAT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert

Which side would this secret Pakistani aid ally with - Gaddafi or the rebels?

One would hope neither, but I recall Gaddafi is the scum who sold out Pakistan and Dr. Khan not so long ago

Robert

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cpt. Rishwat

Just reading through some online papers this pledge of aid doesn't seem to have gone down very well in Britain either. The popular rags led by the Sun are running headlines it has sparked "fury". Most people are commenting that the money should be spent at home. I agree with this and in that case British troops should pull out of Afghanistan and stop giving money to Pakistani troops to fight the war on terrorists.

Hard to disagree with any of this Cap.

I guess that DC reckons he can make some money for British firms in the longer term by this gesture.

COMEBACKID

Quote:

Originally Posted by Down2Earth

expect him to stab us in the back in the near future

lol you dont need him to do that our goverment is already doing it so whats the use of saying to him when we cant do anything about our own corrupt goverment

Cpt. Rishwat

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert

Hard to disagree with any of this Cap.

I guess that DC reckons he can make some money for British firms in the longer term by this gesture.

In that case Cameron should make it a priority to impress that on the public at home rather than let the news media paint it as money thrown down the toilet on a cause the British public has no sympathy with.

TheHK16

they dont give you money for nothing they want something in return

KingKhanWC

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert

Well, if the £650M that British taxpayers have just given to Pakistan does not get to the children, that is not Cameron's fault.

Yes it is. The British government isn't stupid it knows how much corruption goes on in Pakistan and don't be fooled into thinking Britain actually cares about poverty and lack of education around the world because it does not. Giving aid is just a thank you gift for the government who are line with British policies.

Amir

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingKhanWC

Yes it is. The British government isn't stupid it knows how much corruption goes on in Pakistan and don't be fooled into thinking Britain actually cares about poverty and lack of education around the world because it does not. Giving aid is just a thank you gift for the government who are line with British policies.

Exactly, everyone knows what Zardari is like. You obivously just cannot drop the money and walk away, they require some sort of transparency mechanism. This money is nothing more than selling future military contracts to Pakistan considering how big our military budget is. Why doesn't Britain give such money to African nations or Haiti before any natural disaster strikes? They just don't have anything to give back.