Donors pledge $5b to help Pakistan fight militants
International donors led by the United States and Japan pledged more than $5 billion Friday to stabilise Pakistan's troubled economy and fight the spread of terrorism in the Islamic nation and neighbouring Afghanistan.
The US and Japan started off an international donors' conference in Tokyo by pledging $1 billion each. Saudi Arabia added $700 million and the EU $640 million.
The donors said their contributions would be focused on improving the economic climate in Pakistan through infrastructure and other projects, and stressed that stability in Pakistan is key to averting the growth of terrorism throughout the region.
"Without stability in Pakistan, there is no stability in Afghanistan," Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said in a speech opening the conference. "Stability in border areas is a key and I want to stress that the international community supports comprehensive strategies by the two nations."
Aso announced Japan would provide $1 billion in aid to support Pakistan's economic reforms and its fight against terrorism, while the US issued a statement Friday that it will also chip in $1 billion as a "down payment" on aid it has already announced.
Both countries will make their contributions over the next two years, and neither represented a dramatic change in their current pattern of donations. Saudi Arabia's pledge would also be dispersed over the next two years, and the EU's over the next four years.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari had hoped for as much as $6 billion in pledges. He said the international community is still trying to grasp the implications of the problems his country faces.
"There is a desire to help Pakistan," Zardari said. "I still fear that the understanding of the danger that Pakistan faces still does not register fully in the minds of the world."
"If we lose, you lose," he added. "If we lose, the world loses."
Though focused on Pakistan, the conference also discussed issues in neighbouring Afghanistan.
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