ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that reconstruction and development of areas cleared in military operation is imperative to win the hearts and minds of people and for the success of campaign against militancy and terrorism.

Talking to US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke here on Wednesday, the prime minister said that the US should speed up the process of providing assistance through government channels for effective implementation of the Malakand reconstruction strategy.

He said that most of 11,000 tube-wells to be installed with the US support should be installed in Balochistan to help develop agriculture in the province.

Mr Gilani reiterated the need for expeditious disbursement of long withheld money under the Coalition Support Fund because delay in payments was eroding the capacity and capability of Pakistan’s security forces in the war against terror.

Earlier, Mr Holbrooke tried to calm tensions with Pakistan bristling at increased US drone strikes in tribal areas and new air passenger screening measures.

“People are worried that we see Pakistan only in a regional context. Let me assure all our listeners here that that is simply not the case,” Mr Holbrooke told journalists at a joint briefing with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi following bilateral talks.

“Relations between the United States and Pakistan are better today than they were a year ago. On the other hand there are some obvious and very public issues between the two countries. That’s natural. Friends can disagree.”

Mr Qureshi raised concerns about drone strikes, which have killed nearly 700 people in Pakistan since August 2008, and which Islamabad publicly condemns.

“Pakistan feels it will undermine our relations if there are drone attacks,” he said. He also questioned new US air travel procedures.

“The people of Pakistan feel that innocent people are treated like terrorists,” Mr Qureshi said.

Mr Holbrooke did not address the issue of drone strikes, but tried to reassure Pakistan over the passenger screening measures saying they were necessary and “not discriminatory against the people of Pakistan”.

He said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was expected to visit Pakistan in February.

Mr Holbrooke said he was sorry for the inconvenience caused by new US security checks, adding that other countries were also subjected to the same procedures while people of some countries underwent random checks.

He said that before he left for Pakistan he had talked to the Secretary Homeland Security and she assured that she was personally reviewing the security procedures for Pakistan on a regular basis.

Mr Holbrooke said Pakistan-US ties had been expanded beyond the security cooperation. He said the foreign assistance programme for Pakistan had been restructured and changes in this programme had been made in coordination with the Pakistani government.

He praised the courage, determination and professional commitment of Pakistan Army in the operation against militants in Swat, Dir, Malakand and other areas.

In reply to a question about negotiations with the Taliban, he said: “We are not in direct contact with Taliban.”

He, however, said that many Taliban were coming to join the Karzai government and contributing towards development of Afghanistan.--Agencies

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