ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MURNAGHAN, SKY NEWS

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: As the NATO summit gets underway in Chicago today, the head of NATO has called on Pakistan to lift a six month blockade which stops supply trucks from entering Afghanistan. It was put in place after US air strikes killed 26 Pakistani troops back in November. Well I’m joined now by Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK, Wajid Hasan, a very good morning to you High Commissioner.

WAJID HASAN: Good morning.

DM: Is Pakistan going to end this blockade of US supply convoys, they are after allies?

WH: Well they are friendly, they are very good friends, the United States is a very good friend, so is the United Kingdom and we like to help them out but the fact is that 26^th November strike created such a furore in the country and resentment in the country that we were forced to blockade these supplies but now the talks are on and we have never closed the doors on dialogue and now we begin the dialogue with the United States and other countries to sort it out and in due course of time things will … you know, we have been a democratic country unlike the previous dictator who would have just been called by somebody in Washington and told to open it up to supplies and he would have done it. We are accountable to the parliament and we have taken the matter to the parliament. Parliament has said certain terms of reference on which we are going to conduct our negotiations with the United States and other NATO friendly countries so that things are sorted out in a manner which does not harm relationships between all our friends and us who have been helping. We have been helping, we are the front line for the war on terror and we do not like to leave everything in the mid-stream, we like to take it to the logical end.

DM: But on this blockade, what you are saying is that domestic Pakistani public opinion is still so outraged that you couldn’t lift it at this point. Would a formal apology from the United States help?

WH: Exactly, that is what has been indicated to them that a formal apology would go a long way in pacifying the people because people say, you know there is a phrase in Urdu that they beat you up but they don’t even let you cry so they must at least stand an apology but again it can be sorted out and it will be sorted out, the President of Pakistan is there and we have had negotiations with the NATO generals who visited Pakistan and met our army chiefs, so I’m very positive.

DM: Would a substantial increase in the US’s contribution to Pakistan based on something like $5000 per truck, would that help?

WH: Well again these are intricacies that have to be sorted out, again it won’t matter that much, it will be sorted out. You know our road network has been worn out because they are not supposed to have the trucking, the number of trucks that pass through Pakistan into Afghanistan, they have really denuded our road networks and they have become almost ancient so we will have to do a lot of repair work and we need assistance and I’m sure the United States will come forward with it and we’ll manage it.

DM: But what do you say to those in the United States and indeed some in this country, others who say what this symbolises is that Pakistan faces both ways when it comes to dealing with the terrorists? Tolerance of the Taliban in some quarters within Pakistan, perhaps infiltration of the security services, and this blockade as well shows that Pakistan is not wholeheartedly behind this campaign.

WH: Pakistan is not wholeheartedly behind the campaign to fight terrorism? Pakistan is losing hundreds of people every week at the hands of these terrorists and it is really an irony when one says that it is not wholehearted. Pakistan is wholehearted in the war against terrorism and it would like its country back to normal so that its people live in peace, so that they prosper, they have the economic development that we need. We have got very huge unemployment, we have got recession, we cannot give jobs to the people because of this dislocation by terrorists, we have got to get rid of them from Pakistan and also because everything is related to religion, we have got to ensure that Pakistan can become normal as well because Afghanistan and Pakistan are something like Siamese twins, we have got to help each other and in a manner that Afghanistan and Pakistan, both are good to each other.

DM: Can I just ask you lastly then, in that fight against terrorism which you say you are fully signed up to, do American drone strikes, part of which caused that tragic incident back in November, do American drone strikes help or hinder that process?

WH: Well at certain points they definitely help in the high value targets but when they kill the civilians in what they call friendly fire or collateral damage, that is what causes resentment, countrywide resentment. People say on the one hand we are being killed by the terrorists and on the other hand we’re being killed by the friends so where do we go from there? That’s why the government comes under pressure and also government gets the flak and government is really put in a tight corner by these attacks. If we are given technology and we are have the places, we will do it on our own, that will not be objected to by the people of Pakistan because it will not be an infringement of the rights of their sovereignty. These attacks are a violation of our sovereignty which is very much resented by the people.

DM: Mr Hasan, thank you very much indeed for your time, Wajid Hasan there, the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from Pakistan.

WH: A pleasure talking to you.