Pakistan, US should fight rising tide of intolerance: Nisar

US deputy secretary of state calls on interior minister

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Thursday underscored the need for the United States and Pakistan to work closely not only for the stability, peace and socio-economic development of the region but also in fighting the rising tide of intolerance and extremism that appears to have swept the entire globe.

He said this during his meeting with a US delegation headed by US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken here at the Punjab House. The US delegation included among others Ambassador David M Hale, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson, Principal Deputy SRAP Laurel Miller, Director USAID Pakistan John Groarke and other senior officials.

Pak-US multifaceted relations and mutual cooperation, especially in the security area, was discussed during the meeting along with the regional situation and other issues of mutual concern.

The US deputy secretary of state expressed his appreciation for the efforts that Pakistan had been making for regional peace and development. He remarked that successful holding of the Heart of Asia Conference was a clear manifestation of Pakistan’s sincerity to promote security, peace and development not only in the neighbouring Afghanistan but the entire region. He also appreciated the efforts that the country and its people had made in fighting the menace of terrorism. Mr Blinken also welcomed the decision of Pakistan and India to resume their dialogue process.

The interior minister during his remarks expressed his condolence over the loss of lives as a result of the recent incident of California shootings and said that the whole world was saddened by this unfortunate incident carried out by two individuals. Reiterating that extremism was not only confined to a specific region or a territory but the entire world was threatened by it, the minister observed that the need to make collective efforts against this rising wave of intolerance, extremism and Islamophobia was never as great as it was today. He observed that there was a need to exercise restraint by the leaders in making public statements and avoid utterances that could potentially hurt the sentiments of any religious community, continued the minister.

The minister said while there was a need to make collective efforts against the extremist elements, individuals and groups, the international community must not close its eyes to certain actions at the state level in some countries that appeared to betargeting certain communities and specific groups. He said that hatred and vindictiveness at any level would only sow the seeds of discontent and would be counterproductive towards ensuring lasting peace.

US deputy secretary of state appreciated the minister’s efforts especially towards checking human trafficking and illegal movement of people and hoped that the new policy on INGOs would facilitate rather than hinder their work. He assured his government’s all possible support to Pakistan in this regard.

The interior minister during the meeting called for enhancing people-to-people contacts including exchange of parliamentary delegations, civil-military personnel and media persons for further strengthening the bilateral relations and friendly equation at all levels.

Meanwhile, German Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Sabine Sparwasser called on Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan at the Punjab House.German Ambassador Ina Lepel and other senior officials from the two sides were also present during the meeting.Pak-German bilateral relations, mutual cooperation between the two countries, Pak-EU Re-admission Agreement and regional situation were discussed during the meeting.