The Joint Press Conference Addressed by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and the Visiting European Union Delegation,September 25 2001  

Opening Comments by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan

It is a great honour for me to welcome Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, current President of the European Council Mr. Louis Michel, and his distinguished colleagues, Mr. Javier Soalana, Mr. Chris Patten and Mr. Joseph Piqui, the next President of European Council. We greatly respect the members of the delegation for choosing this difficult moment to visit Pakistan. We consider it a manifestation of solidarity of the European Union with Pakistan at this difficult moment. The delegation has met with the President of Pakistan. As a witness to the conversation at the table, I am very glad to be able to tell you that the exchange of views between the President and the members of the delegation was very cordial, very inter-active and the President himself greatly appreciated this opportunity of his meeting with the delegation. With these words I hand over the mike to the leader of the delegation, Mr. Louis Michel.
 

Statement by the Leader of the EU Delegation

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank sincerely my colleague, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan. I also thank, of course, the President and the other colleagues we had the opportunity to meet. First of all, I want to say that we were very favorably impressed by the cordiality of Pakistani authorities.
As you know, a fortnight ago the world witnessed an act of terrorism which has not precedent. The world has reacted to these acts of barbarism with outrage and revulsion. Never again the terrorists will be allowed to commit such acts against human beings. Pakistan has taken very courageous stand. It has decided to stand in solidarity with the United States. The EU considers this as a very great stance, which has our full and unreserved support. Pakistan has shown that it can and it is willing in very difficult circumstances to take up its responsibility as a member of the international community. The EU greatly appreciates this courageous posture.
Our Mission came to Pakistan to convey to the Pakistan Government and indeed to the entire world the message of full support from EU to Pakistan. The EU heads of State and Government met in Brussels last Friday and there was a general praise for the position the Pakistan Government has taken. I want you to know this. We also came to Pakistan to explain our policy in the fight against terrorism. Since 11 September, the EU has embarked on a strategy of full solidarity with the US in building a worldwide alliance against terrorism. What are the key elements of this EU policy? First of all solidarity, not only with the US but also with all those nations who want to join in the fight against terrorism. No country can combat this menace of terrorism alone. Only together the world can get rid of the evil of terrorism. Determination is another key element of the EU policy. Let there be no doubt about our resolve to bring to justice those responsible for those barbaric acts and all those who support or finance terrorists. There are no good and bad terrorists.
The Washington and New York attacks have the impact on the entire international community of every faith and culture. The nature of our society makes it imperative to protect our citizens from terrorist attacks. Therefore, terrorism is a global challenge demanding a global answer. The EU heads of States and Government explicitly have rejected any equation of groups or political terrorists with the Arabs and Muslim world. They also emphasized the need to combat any nationalist, racist and xenophobic trends. The support of the Arab and the Muslim world to the international alliance against terrorism is essential. The EU wants to step up international actions against terrorism to a coordinated and inter-disciplinary approach embracing all possible means. The EU stated that on the basis of the UNSC Resolution 1368 response by the US is legitimate. The EU members are prepared to undertake such actions each according to its needs. These actions must be targeted and also be directed against states abetting, supporting and harboring terrorists. These are the key elements of the EU policy.
Let me add that for the EU, the integration of all countries into a very well system of security, prosperity and development is the condition for a strong and sustainable community for combating terrorism. The EU will give special attention to the problem of refugee flows, particularly the Afghan refugees. The EU also recognizes the difficulties Pakistan is facing as a result of recent developments. It wants to help overcome these difficulties by increasing its cooperation with Pakistan. We also think that time has come to try to build new conditions to improve and to build new relationship between Pakistan and the European Union in order to construct and to feed a new long term partnership between Pakistan and European Union.  

Statement by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan

The EU delegation has been here for few hours and we had a very short time at our disposal. But let me tell you that each and every minute of the stay has been fully utilized for the discussions between the delegation and the President, the Finance Minister and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan.
We have been deeply impressed by many things; but I want to highlight three or four points. Firstly, we have deeply welcomed the observation made by the delegation that any equation of fanatical terrorists with Arab or Muslim world is wrong. The terrorists are criminal and they must be dealt with as criminals. Secondly, we have deeply appreciated the emphasis that the delegation placed on the need for long-term cooperation at the global level in the fight against terrorism and that this cooperation needs to be continued so that the problem of terrorism can be eradicated and its root causes are eliminated. Thirdly, we have welcomed the decision of the EU to resume dialogue with Pakistan. We have traditionally very close and friendly relations with Europe. The EU countries are our biggest trading partners. We have maintained relationship between the Pakistan and the EU, but we look forward to further discussion and dialogue in order to increase cooperation between Pakistan and European Union in economic and trade fields. Finally, I wish to pay tribute to the distinguished members of the delegation for the sympathetic and friendly observations and remarks they have made with regard to the difficult situation in which Pakistan finds itself at this time, and we look forward to their continued interest and sympathy so that together we can cross this crisis.  

Question-Answer Session

Q. Asked whether Pakistan was in touch with the Taliban at the moment and if Islamabad was also considering to severe diplomatic ties with Kabul like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Minister stated:

A. You must have read in the morning newspapers that because of difficult situation, Pakistan has withdrawn almost all personnel from our diplomatic and consular missions in Afghanistan. But we maintain contacts through the Afghanistan Embassy in Islamabad, and as the President said a few minutes ago, Pakistan is the only country that has contacts with the Government of Afghanistan. Maybe this can serve a widow for communication between the world community and the Government of Afghanistan.

Q. When asked about the specific steps, which the European Union could take to help out Pakistan in its economic difficulties, a member of the delegation, Mr. Chris Patton, said:

A. The first thing we have told to the Government is that after the 14 August statement of President Musharraf regarding the road map to democracy we would be prepared to recommend to the European General Council to move to sign the (Third Generation) cooperation agreement with Pakistan which has been initialed. European Union will also assist Pakistan with its development. We appreciate the steps being taken by the Pakistan Government for economic revival. We are also conscious of the refugee burden on Pakistan, and EU has decided to allocate 20 million Euros.  This will help in addressing this humanitarian crisis, and to ensure that Pakistan is not destabilized by this crisis. We will also provide Pakistan with development assistance.

Q. When his comments were sought on various moves being rumoured about with regard to support for Northern Alliance and installation of this or that government in Afghanistan, the Foreign Minister said:

A. I think it is very important for the world at large to understand Afghanistan. People of Afghanistan are fiercely protective of their independence. They have never accepted a proxy government imposed upon them from the outside and this factor must be borne in mind also for the future. Those who intervene in Afghanistan to plant their own preferred leaders there paid a very high price for that blunder.

Q. Asked if the remarks of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan should be taken as a warning to the United States, the Foreign Minister observed:

A. I am not warning any body. I was just answering a question, which implicitly blamed Pakistan of the rise of the Taliban Government. We ourselves, learning lessons from history, knowing our brothers in Afghanistan and their furious sense of independence, did not in the past and will not in future commit that blunder of trying to impose a government on that country.

Q. Asked as to how the EU delegation felt about the position taken by Pakistan against international terrorism, the leader of EU delegation said:

A. We are well aware that at present Pakistan faces a very delicate and difficult situation. We know that the particular case of Pakistan is not easy. We have been very impressed by the courageous stand that Islamabad has taken in this particular situation. We are here to show that we appreciate this position, which is of course very important. I think we have to see and understand that the position taken by the Government of Pakistan is not only a show of solidarity with the US but also a show of solidarity with and defence of human values. We have spoken with the President and the Ministers about the particular difficulties they face and we are here to bring our support and help to Pakistan.

Q. Asked as to what was the position of the EU vis-à-vis a popular demand emanating from various capitals of the world that the US must come out with a solid evidence against Osama bin Laden before going for any action against the Taliban, the leader of EU delegation said:

A. We were very happy listening to Mr. Colin Powell, when he announced the other day that there were solid proofs of Osama bin Laden’s involvement in the recent events.

Q. To a question with regard to financing of terrorist groups across the globe, a member of the delegation said:

A. You know very well that in the last meeting of the European Union one of the most important things was to stop the financing of terrorist groups. We have talked to our friend and would remain in touch with them in future, too. We would make all the efforts in order to stop the financing of terrorist groups. I think this is a serious challenge with the international community should be taken up collectively.

Q. When his comments were sought on a recent meeting held in Dushambe, where Pakistan was accused of collaboration with NATO, the Foreign Minister said:

A. I am not aware of any accusation. But I want to take this opportunity to say that we are concerned to read news that Afghan groups are asking for foreign military assistance. The Northern Alliance has said so, and we fear that any such decision on the part of foreign powers to give assistance to one side or the other in Afghanistan, is a recipe for great suffering for the people of Afghanistan.

Secondly, immediately on seeing the attacks in New York and Washington, the Government of Pakistan made an announcement condemning international terrorism, extending condolence and sympathy to the American people and announcing at the same time that Pakistan would implement the resolutions of the Security Council. Pakistan’s policy for the fight against international terrorism is cast in the mould of the resolutions of the Security Council. Based on that principle, Pakistan can be relied upon to be steadfast in its cooperation in the fight against terrorism now and for the duration, which it has been necessary. n

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