Donors pledge over USD 5 bn to Pak to fight terror

Tokyo, Apr 17 (PTI) Major international donors led by
the US and Japan Friday pledged more than USD 5 billion in aid
to Pakistan to stabilise the cash-strapped country after its
President Asif Ali Zardari warned them that the battle against
terrorism would not end "on my border."

"If we lose, you lose," Zardari told top leaders from
Japan, US, Middle East and international financial
institutions, adding "if we are the losers, the world is a
loser."

As the 40 donors lined up to help Pakistan, Zardari
acknowledged their desire to come to the aid of his country
but said "... I still fear that the understanding of the
danger that Pakistan faces still does not register fully in
the mind of the world."

Voicing determination to fight this "tremendous
challenge," Zardari called for broad support saying that the
defeat for the nuclear state of 170 million people was not an
option. "We do not and cannot afford it."

The US and Japan were the major donors with USD one
billion each followed by Saudi Arabia pledging USD 700 million
and European Union USD 640 million, with all of them
saying that the money was to battle extremist violence.

"Development partners pledged new financing for Pakistan
totalling more than five billion US dollars over the next two
years," a statement issued at the end of the one-day donor
conference here said.

Both Washington and Tokyo will make their contributions
over the next two years. Saudi Arabia's pledge would also be
dispersed over the next two years, and the EU's over the next
four years.

Opening the donor meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Taro
Aso called for "global solidarity" to help Pakistan overcome
its economic woes and strengthen counter-terrorism.

Aso said "without the stability of Pakistan there can
be no stable Afghanistan, and vice versa."

He said Tokyo places special emphasis on Pakistan's fight
against terrorism, given the country's unstable border areas
with Afghanistan, where al Qaeda and Taliban are resurgent.

"The stability of the border regions of the two
countries is the key to success and I would like to stress the
need for the international community to support both Pakistan
and Afghanistan as they work out their own comprehensive
strategies vis-a-vis the border region," Kyodo news agency
quoted the Japanese Premier as saying.

US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard
Holbrooke, described the meeting as an "extreme success" and
said Islamabad should consider its outcome as a very good day
for the people of the country.

Holbrooke called the US pledge "a down payment on
President (Barack) Obama's commitment" to a bill to pump 1.5
billion dollars a year into Pakistan for at least five years,
to fight poverty and strengthen democracy.

Pakistan narrowly averted a balance of payment crisis
last year when it went to the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) to secure a loan of USD 7.6 billion.

Iran also took part in the donor meeting with its Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki saying that assistance to Pakistan
will not only help the country, but all countries in the
region.

"There is no geographical border in the fight against
terrorism," Mottaki said.

Later, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi
said that with massive inflow of assistance, he expected the
country's economy to post a growth rate of six to seven per
cent as compared to a dismal 2.5 per cent expansion forecast
for the fiscal year ending June.

The funds pledged today at the donor conference would
provide "additional support to social safety nets, human
development and pro-poor development expenditures," the
statement said.

The meeting also reaffirmed its commitment to existing
programmes worth more than USD 15 billion for ongoing
and medium-term development initiatives, it said.

"The actions of development partners included financial
support, but also broader support for development and
stability in the regional context of Pakistan and its
neighbours," it added. PTI AKD
PMR
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