ISTANBUL: President Asif Ali Zardari said that Pakistan has suffered great loss in fighting against terrorism and lost over 36,000 innocent men, women and children besides suffering direct economic loss over 70 billion dollars in this fight.
In an interview published prominently at the front page of leading Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, President Zardari, who is here to attend trilateral summit on Afghanistan said, "No country has made greater contributions and sacrifices in fighting terrorism than Pakistan."
He said, "We have lost our great leader and my wife Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in the hands of terrorists. No one should question our commitment or intentions in fighting the war."
President Abdullah Gul will host the sixth trilateral Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan summit here on Tuesday and President Asif Ali Zardari will meet his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai for the first time after the assassination of former Afghan President and Peace Council head Burhanuddin Rabbani on September 20 and set a new struggle strategy on terror.
Zardari was scheduled to meet President Gul on Monday. Before the summit, President Zardari shared his views on many topics including the assassination of his wife, former and first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007.
Replying to a question, President Zardari said the Osama Bin Laden issue was a "history" and Pakistan is looking forward to a new chapter of relations with the United States. He said the source of the greatest evil of the new millennium met his eventual fate.
"We should look forward into the future and ensure that the militant mindset is defeated and the sooner we stop public criticism and finger pointing at each other and coordinate our resources, the better it will serve the cause of peace and stability and in the fight against extremism and militancy," he said."
The President said, "Our relations should be based on respect for sovereignty and mutual trust".
Replying to another question, President said, "Let's talk about peace and not war. Democracy always favors dialogue over confrontation. Peace with everyone.
Decades ago the international community got together in an unprecedented unity to defeat a rival ideology (communism). Together they created militants (in Afghanistan) driven by religious fervor as foot soldiers.
After defeat of the former USSR in Afghanistan, the international community abandoned the region leaving us at the mercy of these militants.
Today, our innocent citizens are killed mercilessly by these terrorists. This is a historical fact. The international community owes it to Pakistan to support it in the fight against militant mindset."
Zardari said Pakistan was grateful to the Turkish nation for their deep compassion and sublime generosity towards the millions Pakistanis affected by the 2010 and 2011 floods as well as in the October 2005 earthquake.
He said the people and Government of Pakistan mourn with their Turkish brethren in the wake of the natural calamity in Van. President Zardari said, "We have dispatched relief goods to Turkey as a gesture of solidarity."
The President said, "We supported each other in our wars of independence; we supported each other in natural disasters and calamities also. We are One Nation living in Two States."
Zardari said under the present arrangement, visa is not required for holders of diplomatic and official passports and the eventual goal is a visa free regime for all citizens and also working towards the currency swap agreement to enhance the bilateral trade.
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
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