Islamabad: Richard Holbrooke is remembered here as a friend and well-wisher of Pakistan and the region.
As a US Special Representative he showed sympathetic understanding of Pakistan's major concerns, according to well-placed sources familiar with the discussions during Holbrooke's frequent visits to the region.
His reported last words that war in Afghanistan must end were cited by commentators here as clear evidence of his passion for peace in the strife-ridden region.
Holbrooke's views helped bring to fore Islamabad's economic and security concerns in the strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the US in 2009, the sources recalled.
He is believed to have played a moderating role to reduce pressure on Islamabad to "do more" in the fight against militancy, the sources said.
Holbrooke was conscious of Pakistan's genuine concerns over perceived security threat on its eastern border and about increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan, the sources pointed out.
Eloquent tribute
In the strategic dialogue with the US, Islamabad is understood have made it clear that any training of Afghan army personnel by Indians will not be acceptable.
Pakistani leaders paid eloquent tribute to Holbrooke. President Asif Ali Zardari conferred upon him posthumously the country's highest civil award Hilal-e-Pakistan for his "untiring efforts to enhance US-Pakistan relations".
Zardari, who visited the American embassy here to record his condolences, wrote that Ambassador Holbrooke was "a great intellect and force for good; a personal friend of Pakistan, my wife Shaheed [martyr] Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and myself."
What Holbrooke did to assist Pakistan during the Swat crisis and the devastating flood would "never be forgotten", the Pakistan president observed.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in a condolence message that Ambassador Holbrooke "passionately worked to establish strategic partnership between Pakistan and the United States".
Utmost importance
"He always attached utmost importance to strengthening of Pakistan-US relations and exerted every effort to broaden and deepen this partnership," the prime minister said.
"We will always remember his contributions towards Pakistan-US bilateral ties as well as his efforts for promoting peace and stability in our region, with a deep sense of appreciation and gratitude," he said.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, now chief of the main opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-N, also paid glowing tributes to Holbrooke.
Sharif, in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said he had the first opportunity to meet Ambassador Holbrooke when he visited Pakistan early last year after his appointment as special envoy. "It is a testimony to his intense devotion to a resolution of the Afghan problem and his strong support for Pakistan that we were able to establish a relationship of mutual respect and total frankness in all our deliberations. In the past two years that we had been meeting often, I found Ambassador Holbrooke a man of honour and dignity," Sharif said.
Prominent national dailies in editorial comments noted the outstanding stature of Holbrooke in the world of diplomacy, highlighting his last words for peace in Afghanistan.
