WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday pledged two billion dollars in military aid to Pakistan and hailed its efforts to battle extremists, seeking to bolster an uneasy alliance with the frontline nation.

The military package, keenly sought by Pakistan's leaders, marks the latest twist in the two nations' crisis-prone relationship but risks causing unease in India just two weeks before a visit to New Delhi by President Barack Obama.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration would ask Congress to approve two billion dollars in military aid from 2012 to 2016 as part of the United States' “enduring commitment to help Pakistan plan for its defense needs.”

“The United States has no stronger partner when it comes to counter-terrorism efforts against the extremists who threaten us both than Pakistan,” Clinton said at high-level, three-day talks between the two nations.

The military package would be in addition to 7.5 billion dollars which Congress last year committed over five years in civilian aid, including building schools and roads, in a bid to dent the allure of extremists.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is accompanied by the army chief to the strategic dialogue in Washington, denounced criticism of his country's efforts against extremism.

“There are still tongue-in-cheek comments, even in this capital, about Pakistan's heart not really being in this fight. I do not know what greater evidence to offer than the blood of our people,” Qureshi said, sitting next to Clinton.

“We are determined to win this fight,” Qureshi said.

Clinton said that Americans “recognize and appreciate the sacrifice and service” of Pakistan's military.

“These groups threaten the security first and foremost of the people of Pakistan, of neighbors, of the United States and indeed the world,” Clinton said.

But a White House report to Congress this month faulted Pakistan for not working against Afghanistan's Taliban, in what experts say is an attempt by Islamabad to preserve influence in its neighbor if and when US troops leave.

Obama plans to pay his first presidential visit to India next month in an effort to show his personal commitment to broadening the relationship between the world's two largest democracies.

CALGARY: Canada has created history by electing its first Muslim mayor. Naheed Nenshi, a Harvard-educated Ismaili Muslim, defeated two white candidates to become the mayor of Calgary Monday night. A Conservative (right-wing) stronghold in Canada, Calgary is also the hometown of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Interestingly, the 38-year-old Nenshi defeated one of the candidates supported by the prime minister. A jubilant Nenshi told his supporters after his victory, 'Today, Calgary is a different place than it was yesterday. It's a better place. 'And not because of me, but because of you. All of you. I want to thank all of the other candidates in this election for making politics in Calgary exciting again. I want to thank you all.'' A business professor and smart talker, Nenshi baffled energize his youth support base Obama-style by using new social media to usher what he called 'Purple Revolution.' The prime minister's office congratulated the first non-white mayor of any major Canadian city. 'The Prime Minister congratulates Mr Nenshi on his victory in yesterday's municipal elections,'' a message from the Prime Minister's Office said. 'This is a very good development for Canada that someone from any minority community has become mayor of a major city in this country,'' said former Canadian health minister Ujjal Dosanjh who himself created history in February 2000 by becoming Canada's first non-white premier in British Columbia province. Ismaili Muslims, most of whom came here from Uganda and Tanzania in the 1970s, are one of the most progressive immigrant communities in Canada. Nenshi's victory is not the first 'first' to the credit of the community in this country. In 1997, Rahim Jaffer also created history when he was elected as Canada's first Muslim MP from Edmonton at the age of 25. Mobina Jaffer, another Ismaili, became Canada's first Muslim senator when she was appointed to the country's Upper House in 2001.

WASHINGTON: Pakistan on Wednesday praised US President Barack Obama for saying he would visit the country next year, calling it a sign of commitment between the troubled war partners.
Obama, meeting with a senior Pakistani delegation, said he would not visit when he travels to neighboring India next month. But he committed to visiting Pakistan in 2011 and invited Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to Washington.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, speaking afterward at the Brookings Institution think-tank, called his meeting with Obama “very satisfying.”
“The fact that he has agreed to visit Pakistan next year, the fact that he has decided to invite the president of Pakistan to the United States of America, that is the level of engagement that is taking place,” Qureshi said.
The United States has played a delicate balancing act, seeking to show Pakistan it seeks a relationship beyond cooperation on Afghanistan while also trying to broaden its ties with India, the world’s largest democracy.
But Qureshi acknowledged “obviously there are concerns” that remain between Pakistan and the United States.
In a recent report to Congress, the White House said bluntly that, though it had made sacrifices in the US anti-terror campaign, Pakistan could do more to crack down on extremist safe-havens in lawless tribal areas.
Pakistan this month temporarily shut down its main land crossing for war supplies into Afghanistan, outraged after a Nato helicopter killed Pakistani troops along the border.
“Fighting terrorism remains a strategic and moral imperative for us,” Qureshi said, insisting that “our nation has suffered the most” from extremism and was committed to international cooperation.”
But Qureshi warned: “Actions are required that reinforce and not undercut such counter-terrorism cooperation.”

HANOI: Flooding in central Vietnam has killed 41 people and left survivors destitute, officials said Tuesday, as relatives of at least 15 missing bus passengers watched rescuers scour a river for their loved ones. The heavy rains that began late last week have washed over three provinces: Nghe An, Quang Binh, and Ha Tinh. In Ha Tinh police said a bus had disappeared in the flood waters on the main north-south highway on Monday. State television said hundreds of soldiers using boats and metal detectors had been mobilised to search for the bus passengers. "This morning we used army engineers and their special boats, for detecting bombs and mines, to try to locate the bus that was swept away by the water. But it has been in vain until now," Lieutenant General Pham Quoc Cuong said on state television. Police and local residents also joined the search, which was hampered by strong currents, Tran Van Long, deputy head of Nghi Xuan district police, told media. "We think the bus carried between 33 and 37 people. Eighteen people have been rescued," Long said. "We haven't been able to locate the bus as the water has been so strong."He said about 50 relatives of the missing were at the scene beside the swollen Lam River, near Vinh city, where rain had stopped and the waters were gradually receding.

WASHINGTON: The United States said Tuesday it was in talks with Pakistan about new military assistance as part of a partnership against extremism, in a step sure to trigger unease in India.
The United States and Pakistan on Wednesday open their latest “strategic dialogue,” an initiative by President Barack Obama's administration to show Pakistan's skeptical public it is ready to take up its concerns.
Frank Ruggiero, the US deputy special representative on Pakistan and Afghanistan, said the Pentagon and the Pakistani military have been talking about a framework for security assistance.
“We specifically worked with the Pakistanis over the summer to identify what would be the types of military equipment and so on,” Ruggiero told reporters.
“That will be a topic of discussion at the strategic dialogue.” The US Congress last year approved a five-year, 7.5 billion-dollar package for Pakistan aimed at building schools, infrastructure and democratic institutions in hopes of denting the appeal of extremists.
Pakistan's powerful military initially voiced misgivings, saying the aid came with too many conditions.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March promised to work on a “multi-year security assistance package.”
Ruggiero said the United States considered its ties with India and Pakistan to be “distinct bilateral relationships.”
“The United States committed to a strategic dialogue with the government of Pakistan, a strategic partnership, and we also have a strategic relationship with the government of India,” he said.