PM welcomes debate on national security issues between Pakistan, UK
ISLAMABAD, Mar 7 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday welcomed the discussions on national security issues between Pakistan and the UK, which he termed as the most important part of the enhanced strategic dialogue likely to be launched during the forthcoming visit of the British Prime Minister to Pakistan next month.The Prime Minister said that Pakistan and Britain had a robust political, military and intelligence cooperation and the present discussions will provide further momentum and substance to these areas of bilateral cooperation.
The Prime Minister was talking to Sir Peter Ricketts, National Security Advisor of UK who called on him at the PM’s House here.
The Prime Minister appreciated the fact that UK had always stood by Pakistan in its hour of need and the government and the people of Britain had generously helped Pakistan during the post-earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction, settlement of IDPs and his government’s flood relief efforts last year.
The Prime Minister also appreciated UK’s development assistance to Pakistan through the government channel and commended their contribution towards social sector development.
The Prime Minister said that both countries have to work together and develop a common strategy in order to synergize their energies to fight the war against terrorism.
The military gains alone, he added, would not be a solution for achieving the final victory in the war as these need to be complemented through socio-economic development of the cleared areas to retain the masses support in this pursuit.
Similarly, the root causes of extremism and terrorism like poverty, illiteracy, lack of infrastructure and job opportunities in other under-developed areas need to be addressed on the same pattern.
He welcomed the fact that Pakistan and the UK have identical views that there cannot be a military solution in Afghanistan and the political process was essential to solidify the gains for which both tracks had to be calibrated carefully. The Prime Minister added that Afghan society needed to re-establish its own balance and the peace process initiated by the Afghan Government should remain Afghan-owned and Afghan-led. 
He underlined the need for the strengthening of Afghan institutions and hoped that the Allied Forces will fulfill their commitment of building Afghan institutions to enable them to take full control of their own affairs.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan had repeatedly offered its assistance to the Afghan Government for training its national Army, Police as well as bureaucracy and had told the Afghan President and the Head of High Peace Council that they should let his government know as to how Pakistan could be helpful in the restoration of peace and stability in their country.
The Prime Minister said that like Afghanistan, Pakistan also desired friendly relations with India and now that Pakistan and India had agreed to resume the dialogue process, it was his earnest hope that the process would be sustained and made irreversible in the interest of achieving tangible results. 
He called on mutual friends of the two countries like the UK to urge India to move towards resolution of issues like Siachin and Sircreek, which could greatly boost mutual confidence and create favourable environment for addressing the core issue of Jammu & Kashmir.
Sir Peter Ricketts, National Security Advisor of UK, agreed with the Prime Minister that political support must follow the military gains by way of economic development for addressing core issues like poverty and illiteracy in the militancy-affected areas of Pakistan as well as Afghanistan.
He welcomed the genuine change for better Pakistan-Afghanistan ties and appreciated that the leadership in both the countries was keenly pursuing better coordination for a durable and excellent friendly ties.
Sir Peter Ricketts said that the UK would like to have integrated dialogue with Pakistan on political, military as well as intelligence cooperation and hoped that his visit alongwith the British Defence Chief would be the beginning of a robust dialogue between the two sides. 
He apprised the Prime Minister that the UK wanted practical and pragmatic solution of the Afghan problem to ward off the possibility of resurgence of extremists and terrorist elements after the withdrawal of the coalition forces from that country. 
He assured the Prime Minister that the UK was ready to build the capacity of Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies through training as well as the supply of the needed equipment and building of infrastructure to strengthen their hands in the fight against terrorism.
Minister for Defence Ch Ahmad Mukhtar, Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, British High Commissioner in Pakistan Peter Tibber, DG ISI, Foreign Secretary and other senior officials were also present in the meeting.