LONDON, Nov 23: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said that the coming year will be crucial for Pakistan in economic, security and political terms.

In an interview with APP, he said the security threat to Pakistan did not come from its north-eastern neighbour, but from the western border and from within the country.

Emphasising the importance of Pakistan to the strategic interests of the United Kingdom, he said his country wanted to stand closely by the South Asian nation in 2009.

Mr Miliband is due in Pakistan this week for talks with the country’s leadership.

“We have now the ‘Friends of Democratic Pakistan’ group and the world is waiting to see that we fulfil the aspirations of the vast majority of Pakistani people for economic prosperity, political democracy and national security.”

When asked why did his country not help Pakistan in its present economic crisis and forced it to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund, he said there was need for a long-term economic plan designed by the Pakistanis themselves.

He said an IMF loan was not an alternative to bilateral agreements but a foundation for them. “Britain is proud to have a 480 million pounds programme over three years with Pakistan but it is no substitute for a long-term economic plan underpinned by the international financial institutions.

“Far from being a failure of the Friends of Pakistan group, the IMF deal has brought confidence in the government of Pakistan.”

Mr Miliband described the presence of Afghan leader Hamid Karzai at the inauguration of President Asif Ali Zardari as a ‘positive’ development. “Both countries need each other and I think after eight years of very difficult relations, there is a chance to build on the leadership that both leaders have shown. I think the leaders know they need each other and they have got to convince the people that they are helping each other.”

Replying to a question about US drone attacks, Mr Miliband said Pakistan was a sovereign, independent and democratic country which needed to control its own territory and to continue to work very closely with the United States on security matters. Calling for greater security coordination between Pakistan and the US, he said: “I hope that the two administrations will work very closely together because that’s the best way to get most out of their relationship.”

The foreign secretary said Pakistan must not blame the US for terrorism because it was not caused by America but by the disaffected Pakistani elements and, sometimes, other terrorists.

“For a long time, people said terrorism was not Pakistan’s problem, but we have seen tragically with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto as well as other bomb blasts that the greatest threat, the mortal threat to Pakistan comes from terrorism.”

He said terrorism was also not only a British problem but a universal one and the UK wanted to work with Pakistan.

“We don’t sit in judgement saying your terrorism is coming to our shores. We say terrorism that finds home on the Pakistan-Afghan border is not only a threat to Britain and the USA but also to Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

He said Pakistan had deployed a large number of troops in its north-western region, where a lot of them had been killed, and this sacrifice needed to be recognised and supported.

Replying to a question, he said Kashmir needed a Pakistani and Indian solution, not a British solution, and his country supported the ‘composite dialogue’. He said Britain wanted to see the issue resolved as early as possible.

“We think it is vital that the very historic decision of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Zardari to open up intra-Kashmir trade route becomes not just a symbol but substance of big new relations.” He said

Britain supported dialogue, negotiations, discussion and trade that could help build trust.

He said the UK viewed recent violence in Srinagar and other towns of occupied Kashmir with great concern.

FORCED MARRIAGES: In an article in The Sunday Times, Mr Miliband said Britain was taking a tougher stand against forced marriage with new powers to clamp down on the practice.

He said it was time that communities spoke out against forced marriages.

Britain’s Forced Marriages Unit says 65 per cent of its known cases involve Pakistan.

Mr Miliband recalled that British diplomats had rescued a 15-year-old girl last week from a village near Mirpur, where she was being held prisoner and beaten by her father to get her to agree to a marriage she did not want, to a man she had never met. “Whatever the reason and whatever the community, ‘cultural sensitivity’ must never be used as an excuse for moral blindness.”—APP/AFP