An influential member of the U.S. Congress, Senator Joseph Biden, is proposing a massive increase in non-military financial aid to Pakistan. Senator Biden made the proposal during a news conference in Islamabad.
在美国国会有影响力的参议员拜登提议大幅增加对巴基斯坦的非军事援助。拜登在伊斯兰堡的一个新闻发布会上提出了这一建议。
Senator Biden, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says he believes Pakistan has taken an important step on the road to democracy with this week's parliamentary elections.
参议员拜登是国会参议院外交关系委员会的主席。他说，他认为巴基斯坦通过这个星期的议会选举在通向民主的道路上迈出了重要一步。
Senator Biden called the election, which resulted in a major defeat for parties supporting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, credible and reflecting the will of the country's moderate majority.
支持穆沙拉夫总统的政党在这次选举中大败。拜登参议员说，选举结果是可信的，并且反映了巴基斯坦温和的多数派的意志。
Biden said the new government of Pakistan should enjoy what he called "a democracy dividend."
拜登说，新的巴基斯坦政府应该享受他所说的“民主分红”。
"I believe, I am speaking only for myself now, that we should be tripling our non-military assistance," he said. "We should sustain that commitment for a 10-year period. We should be focused on helping you build schools and roads and health care centers and dealing with the infrastructure of the entire country."
他说：“现在我仅仅代表自己发言。我认为，我们应该把非军事援助款额增加两倍，而且，我们应该把这项承诺持续10年。我们应该集中力量帮助你们修建学校、道路和医疗中心，并且改善整个巴基斯坦的基础设施状况。”
Currently the United States gives Pakistan $500 million in non-military aid per year. So under Senator Biden's proposal that figure would jump to $1.5 billion.
目前，美国每年给巴基斯坦5亿美元的非军事援助。因此，根据拜登参议员的提议，这一数字将跳升到15亿美元。
This would be in addition to the billions of dollars in American aid given to Pakistan's army to fight al-Qaida and Taliban-linked militants on the country's border with Afghanistan.
除了非军事援助以外，美国还给巴基斯坦军队提供了数十亿美元的援助款，帮助它在巴基斯坦和阿富汗交界的地区同基地组织以及和塔利班有关的激进分子作战。
Before the election, Senator Biden said the United States should cut military aid to Pakistan if the polls were rigged.
在巴基斯坦议会选举开始前，拜登参议员说，如果选举被操纵，美国就应当切断对巴基斯坦的军事援助。
Senator Biden traveled to Pakistan to observe the election with two other members of the Senate, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel.
拜登参议员这次到巴基斯坦是为了观察选举情况的，和他同行的还有另外两位参议员，他们是约翰.克里和查克.黑格尔。
The three met with President Musharraf and Senator Kerry described Mr. Musharraf's reaction to the election results.
这三位参议员会晤了穆沙拉夫总统，克里参议员描述了穆沙拉夫对选举结果作出的反应。
"He made it clear to us that he looks forward to working with the other parties," he said. "He expects the new prime minister and the new government to govern. He said he would respect the power of that prime minister in the new government."
他说：“穆沙拉夫清楚地向我们表明，他期待同其它党派的合作，期待新总理和新政府来管理国家。他说，他将尊重新政府中的新总理的权力。”
President Musharraf has been a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, but Senator Biden suggested it is time to broaden American foreign policy.
穆沙拉夫总统一直是反恐战争中美国的重要盟友，但是，拜登参议员暗示，现在是拓宽美国外交政策的时候了。
"This is an opportunity for us to move from a policy that has been focused on a personality to one based upon an entire people and a move to a genuine Pakistani policy," he added.
他说：“这是我们改变政策的机会，我们一直以来的政策是把焦点集中在一个人身上，以后，我们的政策应当基于整个民族，我们应该建立一个真正的巴基斯坦政策。”
Senator Biden says it is time for Pakistani leaders to focus on the future, restore constitutional order, insure a free media and an independent judiciary.
拜登参议员说，对巴基斯坦的领导人来说，现在是他们着眼于未来、恢复宪法秩序、保证媒体自由和司法独立的时候了。 |