Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani delivered a keynote speech at the University of California, Berkeley’s South Asia Center
Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani today delivered a keynote speech at the University of California, Berkeley’s South Asia Center on the significance of Pak-US Relations for peace and security in South Asia. The event was attended by a large number of students and academics from UC Berkeley.
Ambassador Jilani spoke about the bilateral relationship, regional security and Pakistan’s efforts to promote peace and stability in the region. Giving a historic perspective of the relationship, Ambassador Jilani shared with the audience how Pakistani society had undergone a dynamic transformation with consolidation of democracy, free media and independent courts in the last few years.
Talking about the regional political landscape, Ambassador Jilani emphasized that Pakistan was pursuing the policy of a peaceful neighbourhood and taking affirmative actions to improve relations with its immediate neighbours especially Afghanistan and India. He elaborated how Pakistan and the United States had joined hands in the common objective of promoting peace in the region through the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) process which was aiming to facilitate direct talks between the relevant stakeholders in Afghanistan. The QCG process had the full support of other major players in region including China. Ambassador added that several projects of vital economic significance such as the TAPI and CASA 1000 were being pursued with Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries which would contribute to the cause of regional peace. Outlining Pakistan’s efforts to seek peace and good neighbourly relations with India, he hoped that these gestures would be reciprocated positively for the common benefit of the people of South Asia.
Ambassador Jilani also spoke at length about the concrete steps Pakistan had taken to eliminate terrorism and extremism from the Pakistani soil through the successful military operations in FATA and other parts of the country.
Sharing his perspective on the way forward, Ambassador Jilani stressed the need for building trust and mutual accommodation between the two countries to advance the common objective of peace in the region. He hoped that the increasing bilateral trade and economic relations as well as the people to people contacts would go a long way in further cementing this consequential relationship.
April 26, 2016
Washington D.C
