Defeat is not an option for us: Gilani
BRUSSELS: The EU and Nato said Friday they are seeking to deepen political and economic cooperation with Pakistan.
EU officials say the 27-nation bloc intends to launch a five-year plan that would include a strategic dialogue between both sides and a boost in trade, which last year amounted to euro 7 billion.
Pakistan currently enjoys preferential treatment for 80 per cent of its exports to the EU, and plans to call for all customs duties to be abolished soon.
Defeat is not an option for us: Gilani
‘We have discussed today how to develop the right framework for our future cooperation,” Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after meeting Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. ”We stand ready to assist Pakistan in capacity building, if Pakistan so wishes.”
While addressing a press conference with Rasmussen, Gilani said Pakistan had made sacrifices in human and economic terms in its fight against terrorism.
He expressed the hope that cooperation would continue regarding the tri-nation commission on Afghanistan and said the communications between Pakistan and Nato were satisfactory.
”Pakistan is determined to win against the evil forces of extremism and terrorism, defeat is not an option for us.”
More than 80 per cent of all supplies for the 110,000-strong US and Nato force fighting in Afghanistan are trucked through Pakistan after being offloaded in the port of Karachi. The convoys have come under repeated attack from militants on both sides of the border.
Gilani meets with EU leaders on Friday as part of the second summit between both sides in the past year.
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