Zardari asks for major aid drive to help Pak

Pakistan's president called for a major aid drive like the Marshall Plan to fight poverty and militancy in his country,on the eve of a major meeting of donors.

Pakistan’s president called for a major aid drive like the Marshall Plan to fight poverty and militancy in his country,on the eve of a major meeting of donors.

Asif Ali Zardari is in Tokyo for the aid conference,hosted by the World Bank and Japan,which is expected to raise up to six billion dollars to help stabilise what is seen as a frontline state in the battle against extremism.

Zardari stressed in a written article in Japan Times that his government was determined to fight Islamic militants but said it needed an aid and reconstruction programme similar to the US Marshall Plan for post-World War II Europe.

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“We are determined to fight militancy to the end and will never permit the extremists to dictate their agenda on the people through guns and bullets,” he said.

Since the September 11,2001 attacks which led the United States to invade Afghanistan and make Pakistan its regional strategic ally Islamabad has spent about 35 billion dollars to fight extremists,Zardari wrote.

“Pakistan alone cannot bear the huge social and economic burden of this war,” the president wrote. “Clearly we need massive international assistance.

“Pakistan needs a sort of Marshall Plan to address the issues raised in the fight against militancy. This is critical because regional peace and security,and by implication international peace,depends on how well we defeat the militants.”

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