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US urged to boost Pakistan's ability to counter terror

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has conveyed its concerns on airstrikes and violation of the country's territorial integrity to the US, Adviser on National Security Mahmud Ali Durrani said on Sunday.

Durrani told a private TV channel that Pakistan had made it clear to the US that violation of its territorial integrity would not be tolerated. "The bottom line is that the message is loud and clear and the Americans know it," he said.

Durrani said the US was a friend of Pakistan. He said the US had been informed that Pakistan needed to enhance its capabilities to handle terrorism.

"We need the latest equipment to enhance our capabilities," the national security adviser said.

He said Pakistan was fighting the war on terror in its own interest and adopting multiple strategies to uproot terrorism.

He said former prime minister Benazir Bhutto had met him last year in the US. She told him, "You should be the national security adviser in Pakistan," Durrani said.

After the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) formd the government, PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari offered him the responsibility of being the national security adviser, which he accepted in national interest, Durrani said.

He said his primary responsibility was to integrate the various elements of national security including defence, foreign affairs and intelligence. app

Daily Times

 

Author

Bilal Qureshi

Bilal Qureshi is a resident of Washington, DC, so it is only natural that he is tremendously interested in politics. He is also fascinated by the relationship between Pakistan, the country of his birth, and the United States of America, his adopted homeland. Therefore, he makes every effort to read major newspapers in Pakistan and what is being said about Washington, while staying fully alert to the analysis and the news being reported in the American press about Pakistan. After finishing graduate school, he started using his free time to write to various papers in Pakistan in an effort to clarify whatever misconceptions he noticed in the press, especially about the United States. This pastime became a passion after his letters were published in Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and his writing became more frequent and longer. Now, he is here, writing a blog about Pakistan managed by Foreign Policy Association.

Areas of Focus:
Taliban; US-Pakistan Relations; Culture and Society

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