US announces far-reaching aid package for Pakistan

"We have moved beyond a stand-off where we are engaged in a most important dialogue. I'm pleased and impressed to see the leadership of Pakistan tackling some hard problems," said the US Secretary of State.

13/07/2010 - Pakistan Pakistan arrests more than 650 terror suspects in north-west

Pakistan has been engaged in a longstanding battle with Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants believed to be taking refuge in the north-western border with Afghanistan.

On Sunday evening, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in the eastern city of Sargodha, wounding at least 12 people.

In talks with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Clinton said she hoped the aid projects would "lay the foundations for an enduring partnership" with Pakistan.

They include two energy dams, various drinking water and irrigation projects, as well as the building of health centres and schemes to improve agriculture and private sector income.

They are part of a five-year 7.5-billion-dollar funding approved by the US Congress last year.

"It is a blessing that for the first time, we are getting concrete projects which will make a

Ishtiaq Ahmad, Associate Professor of International Relations, Quaid e Azam   19/07/2010 by Rosslyn Hyams   Listen (07:40)

difference on the ground", professor of International Relations at Islamabad University, Ishtiaq Ahmad told RFI.

The US secretary of State is due to fly to Kabul in Afghanistan later Monday for a key international conference focused on charting a course for Afghanistan’s future involving less dependency on its Western backers.