One-day trip of Mr. Bhutto-Zardari to Washington to attend the annual prayer breakfast, the foreign minister met separately with Derek Chollet of the US State Department. He assured him that “the US stands with Pakistan in combating terrorism for the protection of all.” After the meeting, Mr. Chollet tweeted that he had “discussed progress toward Pakistan’s economic stability and flood recovery”. Furthermore,he “expressed his profound sympathies to the Pakistani foreign minister on the awful incident in Peshawar.”
The discussion also include “terrorism and Pakistan’s efforts” to recover from the terrible floods of the previous summer. Mr. Bhutto-Zardari added in a statement to Dawn,”We are appreciative for the cooperation we received from the US, not just for bilateral support but also to help support the Geneva meeting.”
Mr. Bhutto-Zardari said he was concerned about finding money to support Pakistan’s flood recovery efforts, but the Americans “truly assisted, not just bilaterally”. Moreover also encouraged other countries and donors to contribute. Pakistan and the UN jointly hosted a one-day conference in Geneva where Pakistan sought international support and raised about $9 billion.
Regarding the next anti-terrorism meeting, the foreign minister stated: “Terrorism is really becoming a problem, not just for Pakistan but for others as well.” He asserted that he spoke with Russian officials on the issue during his recent trip to Moscow. “International coordination is once again needed to combat terrorism,” he said. Why can’t the anti-terrorist organizations work together in the same way that terrorists do?
He asserted that both the short- and long-term chances of buying oil from Moscow were being considered in the discussions on energy cooperation with Russia. There are some technological concerns that need to be overcome before we can purchase oil from Russia at the same rate as India, he said. “As a result, discussing a deal is premature.”
Speaking at the luncheon were Jordan’s King Abdullah and Pakistan’s foreign minister. There were a lot of delegates in attendance. According to Mr. Bhutto-Zardari, King Abdullah talked persuasively. “They also featured a video of my mother,” I said. He underlined the value of faith and prayer in his remarks at the prayer breakfast, both for oneself and for the world.