Still smarting from Prime Minister David Cameron’s criticism of Pakistan’s ambivalent approach to terror groups, President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday said he did not need lectures on fighting terrorism having lost his own wife to it.
In a series of media interviews following his talks with Mr. Cameron on Friday, he insisted that Pakistan was already doing all it could do and “it's not something I need to be told about”. He said that as a victim of terrorism himself it “hurt” to have his credentials questioned.
“Everybody is sensitive, as we have lost so many people, including my wife. So to have your credentials questioned does hurt sometimes. No matter how brave you are, it hurts,” Mr. Zardari told The Times when asked about Mr. Cameron's remarks during his visit to India that Pakistan was exporting terror.
The remarks sparked fury in Pakistan prompting its intelligence officials to call off a visit to Britain in protest and overshadowing his own trip. However, after their meeting, the two leaders declared that they had decided to put their differences behind them and move on.
Mr. Zardari said he had looked Mr. Cameron in the eye and had “some straight talk”. Asked by The Guardian whether he had forced Mr. Cameron to back down on his remarks, he pointed to the joint communiqué which, he said, “talks about all the positive things Pakistan has been doing... that Pakistan is part of the solution”.
The newspaper said he made clear that Mr. Cameron “failed” to obtain specific undertakings on any new measures to fight terror.
“We are already fighting all of these groups, we have lost my wife to these terrorists, we have lost 30,000 of our population....We are already doing quite a bit ....It’s not something that I need to be told to do. We do it on our own. Mr. Cameron and the British Government are looking at Pakistan and understand that Pakistan is doing its best,” he said.
Reacting to criticism about his decision to go ahead with his European tour even as millions in Pakistan were battling floods, Mr. Zardari said if he had known “floods would bring that devastation then, we would not have planned this trip”.
Several prominent leaders of Britain’s Pakistani community, including a Labour MP, boycotted a rally addressed by Mr. Zardari in Birmingham.
