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| Haqqani wants multi-pronged US approach for Pakistan |
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Harvard Conference held in Boston
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
BOSTON: The Harvard Extension International Relations Conference (HEIRC) was held in Boston on Saturday.
Congressman John F Tierney and Pakistan’s Ambassador to United States Husain Haqqani delivered keynote speeches on the occasion. One panel discussion was held to discuss the importance of health, education and the USAID, and the other panel was to discuss the significance of security and stability in Pakistan.
The event was organised by the Harvard Extension International Relations Club in collaboration with other student bodies. Important guest attendees included the honorary consul general of Pakistan, Barry Hoffman amongst many others.
Husain Haqqani shared his views on the relationship between Pakistan and the United States. A concern raised by the ambassador, which has also been voiced by the people of Pakistan, is the status shift the country faced previously from being a favoured ally to being the most sanctioned ally. He shared his views about the importance of the establishment of a US multi-dimensional approach towards Pakistan, which should include security, economic, and trade relations. Like other participants, he underlined the importance of democracy in Pakistan as the way forward towards strengthening the relations between the two countries.
Addressing the conference Congressman John F Tierney, who also chairs the National Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, said the Kerry-Lugar Bill was the part of the long-term commitment of the Congress to the people of Pakistan.
He dismissed the prevalent belief that through the bill, the US intended to micro-manage Pakistan. Discussions about the most efficient employment of USAID promised in the bill was also a key point of the speech delivered by the congressman.
Earlier, a panel of development experts discussed two of Pakistan’s most pressing problems - one of the world’s lowest literacy and second the world’s highest infant mortality. They stressed upon that spending aid on health and education programmes is imperative to the health of the country. Additionally, recruiting locals for projects connected with civil society in Pakistan provides them with the ability to contribute to the economy making the nation more self-sufficient and hence, less susceptible.
Members of the security panel included Ashan Iqbal of the PML-N, and Hamid Mir of Geo News. Sharing their thoughts, they mentioned that Pakistan, due to its voting patterns, is indeed a democracy and the people of the country vote for moderate forces during elections. They added previous history of the US support of a military ruler in Pakistan which fostered suspicions amongst the people of Pakistan against the United States. Discussing the Kerry-Lugar Bill, they said that it is being read as intrusion in the country. It was said that Pakistan views US as intruding in its security interests particularly the nuclear issue.
The event concluded after all the attendees had discussed their thoughts on how we can pave ‘the way forward’. Building mutual trust through dialogue was encouraged during the event and most speakers and guests left with a new enforced vigour to do the same. Details also available on official website for the event at http://www.uspakconference.com
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ISSN 1563-9479 
