International donors led by the US and Japan on Friday pledged more than $5 billion in aid to Pakistan to stabilise the country after its President Asif Ali Zardari warned them that the battle against terrorism would not end on my border. If we lose,you lose, Zardari told top leaders from Japan,US,West Asia and international financial institutions,adding if we are the losers,the world is a loser. As the 40 donors lined up to help Pakistan,Zardari acknowledged their desire to come to the aid of his country,but said: I still fear that the understanding of the danger that Pakistan faces still does not register fully in the mind of the world. Voicing determination to fight this tremendous challenge,Zardari called for broad support saying that the defeat for the nuclear state of 170 million people was not an option. We do not and cannot afford it. The US and Japan were the major donors with $1 billion each followed by Saudi Arabia pledging $700 million and European Union $640 million,with all of them saying that the money was to battle extremist violence. Development partners pledged new financing for Pakistan totalling more than $5 billion over the next two years, a statement issued at the end of the one-day donor conference here said. Both Washington and Tokyo will make their contributions over the next two years. Saudi Arabias pledge would also be dispersed over the next two years,and the EUs over the next four years. Opening the meet,Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso called for global solidarity to help Pakistan overcome its economic woes and strengthen counter-terrorism. Aso said without the stability of Pakistan there can be no stable Afghanistan,and vice versa. He said Tokyo places special emphasis on Pakistans fight against terrorism,given the countrys unstable border areas with Afghanistan. The stability of the border regions of the two countries is the key to success and I would like to stress the need for the international community to support both Pakistan and Afghanistan as they work out their own comprehensive strategies vis-a-vis the border region, Kyodo quoted the Japanese PM as saying. US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan,Richard Holbrooke,described the meeting as an extreme success and said Islamabad should consider its outcome as a very good day for the people of the country. Holbrooke called the US pledge a down payment on President (Barack) Obamas commitment to a bill to pump $1.5 billion a year into Pakistan for at least five years,to fight poverty and strengthen democracy. Iran also took part in the donor meeting with its Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki saying that assistance to Pakistan will not only help the country,but all countries in the region. Pakistan Foreign Minister S M Qureshi said that with massive inflow of assistance,he expected the countrys economy to post a growth rate of 6 to 7 per cent as compared to a dismal 2.5 per cent expansion forecast for the fiscal year ending June. The funds pledged on Friday would provide additional support to social safety nets,human development and pro-poor development expenditures, a statement said. The meeting also reaffirmed its commitment to existing programmes worth more than $15 billion for ongoing and medium-term development initiatives,it said.
