US Congressmen laud Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts

ISLAMABAD : US Congressmen lauded Pakistan’s commitment to combating extremism in a meeting with President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday and reaffirmed their support for the country’s counter-terrorism efforts and social development goals. Two U.S. Congressional delegations, led by Senator Ben Nelson and Congressman Adam Schiff, called separately on the President in Rawalpindi.
“Pakistan-U.S. relations, counter-terrorism cooperation, domestic and regional developments were discussed during the meetings,” a Foreign Office spokesman said in a statement.
President Musharraf said Pakistan attaches importance to Congressional support for the broadening and deepening of relations to the mutual benefit of the two countries.
He highlighted Pakistan’s contribution to the international counter-terrorism efforts, while underlining the importance of the government’s comprehensive strategy which combined political, military, and socio-economic dimensions.
The discussions also covered efforts to strengthen security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
President Musharraf underlined importance of Congressional support for counter-terrorism initiatives of the government that included FATA Development Plan, capacity building of the Frontier Corps (FC) and establishment of the ROZs.
The visiting Members of Congress conveyed their support for the important relationship between Pakistan and the United States.
The Congressional delegation led by Senator Ben Nelson (Democrat-Nebraska) included Allen Boyd (Democrat-Florida) and Nick Lampson (Democrat-Florida).
The delegation led by Congressman Adam Schiff (Democrat-California) comprised Allyson Schwartz (Democrat-Pennsylvania) and Wayne Gilchrest (Republican-Maryland).