Islamabad, July 02: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday sought "pragmatic cooperation" from France in the field of civil nuclear energy to meet Pakistan's growing energy needs.
During a meeting here with visiting Admiral Edouard
Guillaud, the chief military advisor to French President
Nicolas Sarkozy, Gilani proposed that the governments of
Pakistan and France should chalk out a roadmap for pragmatic
cooperation in civil nuclear energy.
A working group could be established to "develop an
agreed way forward on nuclear cooperation", Gilani said.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister's House quoted
Guillaud as saying that he hoped both countries would make
headway on cooperation in trade and civil nuclear energy
during the visit of the French Secretary of State for Foreign
Trade to Pakistan on July 20.
In recent months, Pakistan has turned to France for
cooperation in the civilian nuclear field as a counter-balance
to the landmark India-US civil nuclear deal.
However, France has said it will only cooperate with
Pakistan on nuclear safety issues.
Guillaud also met President Asif Ali Zardari.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said it was decided
during Zardari's recent visit to France that the two countries
would enhance and explore new areas of cooperation in energy,
including civilian nuclear power plants, trade, civil aviation
and defence.
Referring to the military operation against militants in
the country's northwest, Gilani urged countries like France to
extend full support to Pakistan by providing military
equipment and aid to deal with terrorists effectively.
Guillaud assured Gilani that France would provide
military equipment, including Tiger helicopters, to Pakistan.
The Prime Minister also warned of the possibility of
militants crossing over into Pakistan, particularly in
Balochistan province, in the wake of enhanced deployment of US
and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
He also said Pakistan is looking forward to Sarkozy's
upcoming visit and the signing of two framework pacts on
defence, security and counter-terrorism issues and on
cooperation in the economics and energy fields.
Admiral Guillaud today also met President Asif Ali
Zardari in the Presidency.
During the meeting between Zardari and Guillaud, the two
sides discussed the Friends of Pakistan initiative,
rehabilitation of people displaced by the anti-Taliban
operations and the drive against militants.
Guillaud also met army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
and Gen Tariq Majid, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Committee.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, July 02, 2009, 22:23