INTERVIEW: Pakistani premier presses for a joint Afghan strategy

By Sajjad Malik Nov 29, 2009, 1:08 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani wants Western countries to provide a joint strategy to fight the scourge of Taliban insurgency on Pakistan and Afghanistan border.

In an interview with German Press Agency dpa ahead of his first visit of Germany as the prime minister, Gilani stressed that any policy that missed his country's input could destabilize Pakistan.

'We have highlighted our concerns about possible increase in US forces in Afghanistan,' said Gilani. 'Our fear is that if they increase troops ... the militants might spill over to Pakistan.'

Gilani, who is scheduled to start the four-day visit to the NATO's important member Germany on November 30, said the administration of US President Barrack Obama must 'prepare a roadmap' on AfPak with Pakistan's consultation.

'We should complement each other, we should not destabilize each other.'

The statement comes days before Obama is expected to announce the deployment of an additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, where violence has surged to its deadliest level since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

But the surge in troops lacks the undivided support from US allies, especially in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Germany, which with 4,000 soldiers has the third biggest troop contingent in Afghanistan after the United States and Britain, has delayed its decision on contributing to the proposed additional troops.

With confusion and reluctance in the Western countries about Afghanistan, where Taliban remain undefeated after an eight-year effort by international forces, Pakistan is concerned about its internal security.

Taliban ideology, which came with the thousands of Taliban fighters taking refuge in Pakistan's seven tribal districts that borders Afghanistan after the US invaded Afghanistan following 9/11 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in the United States, has swept across Pakistan's north-western region.

Currently, more than 120,000 Pakistani soldiers are trying to check the cross-border movement of Islamist insurgents into Afghanistan as well as fighting militants.

These home-grown militants, known as local Taliban, have killed thousands of Pakistanis in suicide bombings and other attacks since 2007 in their pursuit of enforcement of their narrow version of Islam in the country.

Trying to dispel the impression in the West that Pakistan was doing little to control these extremist forces, Gilani said the country needed support from the international community to enhance the capacity of its security forces that are battling with the motivated and skilled guerrilla fighters.

He cited examples of the north-western district of Swat, where Pakistani soldiers defeated Taliban by killing more than 1,500 of them, and tribal district of South Waziristan, where most of around 10,000-strong Taliban force have fled the army offensive, vowing to wage a guerrilla war soon.

'We expect from the world to enhance the capacity of our law enforcement agencies, because we have the will and ability to fight terrorism but we lack, at times, the capacity,' Gilani said.

'Therefore, if our capacity is enhanced, we are in a better position to combat terrorism and extremism,' he told dpa.

Gilani said Germany being a major country in the NATO could play an 'important role' in forwarding Pakistan's case at the international level.

'The NATO forces combined together their injuries and losses are much less in numbers than Pakistan. Pakistan has sacrificed much more than the NATO combined together,' he added, while hoping that the world has started to acknowledge Islamabad's seriousness in dealing with Islamist insurgency.

Without elaborating, Gilani said his country would sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Germany. He was confident of persuading the German investors into making the much-needed foreign investment in the country.

'Certainly my visit would be beneficial to both the countries and enhance our mutual relationship, and multi-dimensional cooperation,' Gilani said, adding that he would ask Berlin to support Pakistan's greater access to the EU market.