Pakistan seeks UAE aid

A meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan in Abu Dhabi is seeking billions of dollars in development aid.

Pakistan is to ask donors, including the UAE, for billions of dollars in urgent development aid at a two-day Abu Dhabi meeting that Emirati diplomats hope will bring about greater regional stability. A meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FODP), which is comprised of 22 countries and development bodies including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, western and eastern Asian countries as well as the World Bank, gathered today at the Al Raha Beach hotel. Dr Anwar Gargash, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, who helped open the meeting, said: "The larger goal is regional stability and security and Pakistan is an important foundation stone for this process. "We in the UAE are very aware of the importance of this process and of being able to produce tangible and operational results. Part and parcel of this is a world and region that wants to see stability, peace and development." One of Pakistan's top diplomats told the meeting that without the aid, the country risked falling into a vicious cycle of poverty and violence. "Without security there can be no substantial economic growth and social development," said Salman Faruqui, the secretary general to the president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari. "Without economic growth and development, our security challenge will grow." The FODP will also use the two-day event in Abu Dhabi to prepare for a summit meeting in the Japanese capital Tokyo on April 17, which Pakistan hopes will yield a strong political statement of support. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are two Arab countries in the FODP, which also includes Great Britain, the US, China and Japan as well as the Islamic Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank. [e-mail]