North Waziristan operation: Munter dispels 'perception' about US pressure

The US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter on Friday went for dispelling, what he said, a perception being projected by the media that Washington is 'pressurising' Islamabad to launch military operation in North Waziristan. Pakistan is engaged in the war against terror for its own sake and not for the United States, he said while appreciating the cost Islamabad has paid in terms of military and civil causalities.
The Ambassador made another clarification, this time on angling the recent statement issued by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Islamabad's decision to reverse an unpopular fuel price increase was a mistake. Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani had announced the decision. "The statement issued by the Secretary of State was not the way it was reported," said Cameron Munter, responding to a question that it tantamount to interference in Pakistan's internal affairs.
The Ambassador, who was keynote speaker at a roundtable on USA with special focus on 'Pakistan and the USA: challenges, opportunities and future prospects,' had to face a barrage of tough question but he did not comment on several queries. The question regarding drone attacks was the one simply avoided by the ambassador.
However, he did appreciate candid and open remarks and observations saying that was reflection of mutual trust and respect. After making two clarifications, the ambassador went for a commission as he was very open in his brief presentation to admit that the USA has learnt its lesson from its 1989 decision ie, turning away from the region was a mistake.
"We have learnt the lesson in 1989 when at the conclusion of Afghan war, we turned our attention elsewhere. We turned away from this region. We made a fatal mistake and we don't want this to happen again," Cameron Munter said. He said that the US was currently looking for building some kind of strategic partnership based on shared interest, keeping in view the situation in Afghanistan to make South Asian a peaceful region.
When the ambassador was asked for a US role in solving the Kashmir issue as both Pakistan and India were spending billions of dollars to kill one another. "If something we can do, we will do it, but there is a question which way US can help resolve this lingering issue," replied the US Ambassador. When asked about the perception of Americans regarding Pakistan, Cameron Munter said that there is a perception in Untied States that this (war against terror) is not something we have forced Pakistan into. 'If you have suffered, then we have also borne the burnt', he said.
Earlier, Dr Ejaz Shafi Gilani, the academic head of Islamabad Programme in Global Studies concisely covered the US economic position and relation with Pakistan. He said that the new US Ambassador has come to a country with a difficult task. No doubt we have very extensive relationship with USA. At the same time roughly 80 percent people distrust the United States and consider it a great threat to their homeland, he added.
He said the proportion of American economy is 25 percent of total GDP of the World with five percent population of the world. In his welcome remarks, former senator Enver Baig underlined the need of people to people contact and strengthening of relations between the two countries.