Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-25-Speech-4-227"
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"en.20071025.31.4-227"2
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"Mr President, we must take a very discerning view of Pakistan. It is a large and important country with a troubled history. The State of Pakistan was artificially created as a home for the Muslim inhabitants of India, and it therefore has an Islamic identity, which is something we cannot now hold against it. That was more or less its original
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This does not mean that we should not battle against Islamic extremism, and indeed the Pakistanis themselves are devoting considerable efforts to that very struggle. Pakistan was an important ally in the face of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, in dealings with Communist China, and in the context of long-running Soviet attempts to gain influence in India. It was an important strategic factor for the West.
On the other hand, it goes without saying that Pakistan has internal difficulties, of which we must be aware: a complex and heterogeneous population structure in ethnic and religious terms, widespread poverty and, of course, the need to strengthen democracy and the rule of law. We must clearly lend the country a very great deal of support in establishing free elections and a stronger independent judiciary, and must encourage the military command to hand over power gradually to elected politicians. Above all, as Charles Tannock said, we must encourage Pakistan to keep pursuing the confidence-building process with neighbouring India.
In this respect there have been encouraging signs, and the purpose of a balanced policy on Pakistan is to reinforce those signs while expressing any necessary criticism."@en1
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