U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher calls on the President

(2009-01-05) U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher called on the President today at Aiwan-e-Sadr, Islamabad. Bilateral relations, situation in the region and cooperation in the fight against terrorism were discussed in the meeting.

The President said that Pakistan valued a stable, broad-based and long term relationship with the U.S. for our shared goal of promoting regional peace, security and development. He expressed the hope that bilateral relations would continue to strengthen and grow in the coming years.

President Zardari reiterated that Pakistan was committed to fighting terrorism and extremism in its own interest. He told Mr. Boucher that Pakistan had offered every possible cooperation to India for investigation into the Mumbai incident and appreciated positive role played by the U.S. in advising restraint and de-escalation.

The President stressed that for eradicating the menace of terrorism Pakistan was pursuing cooperative partnership with regional countries. He expressed the hope that his forthcoming visit to Afghanistan would contribute to enhanced cooperation in the areas of security, counter-terrorism and economic development of our people.

Assistant Secretary Boucher said U.S. valued its relationship with Pakistan and would continue efforts for strengthening it. Appreciating Pakistan’s contribution in the war against terrorism, he expressed U.S. support to cooperative partnership to fight the threat of terrorism globally and in the region.

Earlier, at an investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President conferred the award of Hila-e-Qaid-e-Azam on Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher for his valuable services for strengthening Pakistan-U.S. relations. Boucher thanked the President for this honour and vowed to continue his services for the cause of Pakistan-U.S. relations in his current or any other capacity in future.

Islamabad
05 January 2009

11/2009