Clinton asks rich Pakistanis to ensure aid

Brussels: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday urged Pakistan to ensure wealthy Pakistanis contribute to helping the country overcome the devastation caused by this summer's floods.

Some have estimated that flood recovery will cost tens of billions, a mammoth sum for a country that has relied on international loans. Aid groups have struggled to raise funds for the country because the disaster unfolded relatively slowly and the number killed remains low compared to other major disasters such as the Haiti earthquake.

"It is absolutely unacceptable for those with means in Pakistan not to be doing their fair share to help their own people," Clinton said, after meeting with Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign and security affairs chief.

Adding that "the international community can only do so much," she urged the government in Islamabad to "take immediate and substantial action to mobilise its own resources" for the immense task of reconstructing schools, health clinics, bridges, thousands of kilometres of roads and repairing new irrigation systems.

Her plea for more action from Islamabad came a day before an international conference to hear from Shah Mahmood Quraishi, the Pakistani foreign minister, about his government's long-term economic, as well as other types of reforms.

The ‘Friends of Democratic Pakistan' meeting in Brussels brings together 26 nations and international institutions. Established in late 2008, it enables Pakistan to regularly brief the international community on security and economic challenges, which are acute and directly linked to the instability of neighbouring Afghanistan and its own struggles with Islamic insurgents.

Show of solidarity

"The meeting will be an opportunity for Pakistan's friends to demonstrate solidarity during one of the most difficult periods in the country's history," Catherine Ashton, the EU's security and foreign affairs chief said yesterday.

The meeting is not a pledging conference.

"We look forward to learning more about Pakistan's strategy for a longer-term comprehensive approach to recovery," said Ashton.

Quraishi yesterday told the European Parliament in Brussels that economic aid is key "if you want to help us fight extremism".