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‘War on terror tied to Pakistan’s economic future’

MEDFORD: Forging peace with India while continuing the fight against terrorism abroad and Islamic extremism at home are critical elements in developing Pakistan’s economy, the nation’s ambassador to the United States said.

“Now we need to get investment, stability with Afghanistan, taking out the extremists at home and overcoming the impasse in parliament, and all of these things are going to provide a basis for attracting domestic investment and foreign direct investment into Pakistan,” Ashraf Jehangir Qazi said on Tuesday. “If we want to lift people out of poverty we have to forge peace,” he said in a lecture at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The economies of China and India are the ones Pakistan would most like to emulate, he said, and the nation’s economic goal is 8-9% annual growth.

India accuses Pakistan of helping Islamic guerrilla groups fighting since 1989 to merge India’s portion of Muslim-majority Kashmir with mainly Muslim Pakistan, or to make it independent from predominantly Hindu India. Pakistan denies the charge. Qazi called Kashmir “a running sore between the two countries.” —AP

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