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“We have already done too much ... Pakistan has done its bit, we have delivered; now it's your (the US) turn. Start delivering,” he said at a media briefing on the upcoming US-Pakistan strategic dialogue.
The first such dialogue at the ministerial level in Washington on March 24 will cover a wide spectrum of bilateral relations.
The meeting to be co-chaired by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Qureshi would bring together Pakistani and American officials for in-depth discussions on issues of economic development, water and energy, education, communications and public diplomacy, agriculture and security.
Mr Qureshi said efforts would be made to rebuild confidence and trust and develop a long-term partnership based on mutual respect, mutual interest and shared values.
He was more categorical about Islamabad's expectations that included a realisation of Pakistan's concerns in “the realm of security and economic development”. Stressing the need for the US to address Pakistan's strategic concerns, he said economic aid “cannot be a sole driver for stable strategic partnership”.
Mr Qureshi astutely stayed clear of defining the security concerns Islamabad wanted Washington to address, but referred to responsibility of the international community for normalising Pakistan-India ties as a prerequisite for regional peace and stability.
“We have been talking a lot. The time has come to walk the talk,” he said, adding that his strategy would be to underscore the importance of concrete results.
The foreign minister was hopeful of finding the Obama administration receptive to Pakistan's demands. He based his optimism on the realisation in the US that 2010 was a crucial year for its efforts towards stabilising Afghanistan in which Pakistan had a significant role to play. Besides, American think-tanks increasingly believe that long-term US interests lay in east of Afghanistan — a reference to Pakistan.
Meeting
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani presided over a high-level meeting to finalise a strategy for the Pak-US strategic dialogue. He called for formulating mutually accepted goals that produced visible impact on areas of relevance to ordinary people as well as efforts to fight terrorism.
Later on Thursday, the prime minister, the foreign minister and Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met President Asif Ali Zardari at the Aiwan-i-Sadr. Matters relating to the strategic dialogue and war against terrorism were discussed.
AFP adds Foreign Minister Qureshi said the need to rebuild trust with the United States was key to upcoming talks and called upon Washington to follow up words with action.
“I believe our forthcoming dialogue will provide a good opportunity to re-build confidence and trust on both sides. We need to build comfort on all sides.
“We want these talks to be broad-based and that is why I am proposing a completely different format for interaction between the two countries,” Mr Qureshi said.
He said the foreign minister of Pakistani and the US secretary of state should meet annually and Pakistan's foreign secretary and US regional envoy Richard Holbrooke should hold talks twice a year.
“I am also proposing 10 tracks of sectoral engagements in economy, energy, defence, education, science and technology, counter-terrorism strategic stability and non-proliferation, health, communication, agriculture and public diplomacy,” Mr Qureshi added.
He said his engagements in Washington would “contribute to a better understanding of each other's position. We expect the US to understand our concerns both in the realm of security and economic development.”
The Obama administration has sought to engage more deeply with Pakistan, which has long seen Washington as interested only in securing its military cooperation in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
