This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6918516.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Pakistan urged to fight extremism | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has urged Pakistan to continue in its efforts to see "terrorism tackled and extremism tackled". | |
Visiting the country, he told the BBC that young people there wanted to see "enlightened moderation" in politics. | |
Earlier, Mr Miliband said in a speech that diplomacy must be more about influencing public opinion than just about negotiations behind closed doors. | |
Increased help for development could also cut the terror threat, he added. | |
'No question' | |
Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Pakistani citizens in Pakistan want to see terrorism tackled and extremism tackled. | |
"And, remember, Pakistani visitors to the UK could easily find themselves caught up in terrorist incident as well - because people who plant bombs in the UK don't discriminate between the race or the religion of the people they affect." | |
He said he had just returned from a meeting of the Pakistani Youth Parliament, which had urged a policy of "enlightened moderation" but also said it wanted to see extremism tackled. | |
He told the Pakistani Youth Parliament the world was changing faster than ever before and it was up to the young to take the lead. | |
Shared interest | Shared interest |
BBC News diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall said Mr Miliband's comments were the clearest indication yet that the foreign secretary intended, if not a radical shift, at least a change of emphasis in British foreign policy. | |
That would mean a greater stress on long-term policies for development and reconstruction and less on the blunt instrument of military power, our correspondent added. | That would mean a greater stress on long-term policies for development and reconstruction and less on the blunt instrument of military power, our correspondent added. |
Mr Miliband called for co-operation in defeating terrorism after talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who has come under pressure for his policy of backing the US. | |
The foreign secretary said he had chosen to visit Pakistan on his first overseas mission because of a shared interest in the region's stability. | |
He went to Afghanistan on Wednesday, meeting President Hamid Karzai to discuss co-operation in the fight against terrorism, as well as the rebuilding of the country. | |
Mr Miliband said the danger posed by Taleban resurgence was the main reason for the UK to remain in Afghanistan in the long term. |