Pakistan and Britain have agreed to set up a joint body to
cooperate in fighting against terrorism and organized crime, said a
joint declaration issued on the occasion of British Prime Minister
Tony Blair visit to Pakistan on Sunday.
"President Musharraf and Prime Minister Blair agreed to
strengthen the regular dialogue between the two governments through
establishing a Joint Working Group between the Interior Ministry of
Pakistan and the Home Office in the United Kingdom to strengthen
cooperation on counter narcotics, counter terrorism, illegal
immigration and transnational organized crime," the declaration
said.
The first meeting of this Working Group will take place in
Islamabad in January 2007, it said.
The president and the prime minister reiterated their
determination to counter terrorism and extremism in all its forms
and manifestation, according to the declaration.
"The prime minister warmly thanked the president for Pakistan's
important role in helping to foil the Heathrow bomb plot in August
2006," said the declaration.
President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Tony Blair held
talks in Lahore on Sunday focusing on bilateral relations and
international issues.
Blair, who arrived on Saturday, offered President Musharraf the
United Kingdom's full support in countering terrorism, including
the exchanges on forensic training, investigating the financing of
terrorism, and the sharing of crisis management expertise.
Musharraf welcomed the cooperation between Pakistan and the
United Kingdom on counter-narcotics, and expressed the hope that it
would lead to more prosecutions of high value targets.
On Afghanistan, the two leaders reaffirmed the importance of
bringing stability and economic progress to that country.
"They recognized that security is crucial to Afghanistan's
progress, and pledged to work together with government of
Afghanistan and other international partners, to curb the violence
through effective action against the militants," said the
declaration.
The two governments will contribute on a sustained basis to
implementation of the Afghanistan Compact including on economic
reconstruction and counter-narcotics.
Blair paid tribute to the statesmanship of President Musharraf
and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in seeking to resolve
outstanding issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,
between India and Pakistan.
The British prime minister noted the progress that had been made
by both leaders since the establishment of the Composite Dialogue
in January 2004 and welcomed the meeting of the two foreign
secretaries as part of that process on November 14, 2006.
Both the leaders also underlined the need for resuming the
Middle East peace process at the earliest opportunities for a just
and lasting settlement of the Palestine dispute.
(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2006)
