US announces far-reaching aid package for Pakistan
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Monday major aid projects for Pakistan, focusing on water and energy and an effort to strengthen bilateral ties.
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"We have moved beyond a stand-off where we are engaged in a most important dialogue. I'm pleased and impressed to see the leadership of Pakistan tackling some hard problems," said the US Secretary of State.
Pakistan has been engaged in a longstanding battle with Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants believed to be taking refuge in the north-western border with Afghanistan.
On Sunday evening, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in the eastern city of Sargodha, wounding at least 12 people.
In talks with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Clinton said she hoped the aid projects would "lay the foundations for an enduring partnership" with Pakistan.
They include two energy dams, various drinking water and irrigation projects, as well as the building of health centres and schemes to improve agriculture and private sector income.
They are part of a five-year 7.5-billion-dollar funding approved by the US Congress last year.
"It is a blessing that for the first time, we are getting concrete projects which will make a
Ishtiaq Ahmad, Associate Professor of International Relations, Quaid e Azam
difference on the ground", professor of International Relations at Islamabad University, Ishtiaq Ahmad told RFI.
The US secretary of State is due to fly to Kabul in Afghanistan later Monday for a key international conference focused on charting a course for Afghanistan’s future involving less dependency on its Western backers.
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