New York, Sep. 23 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has urged the United States to hasten the process of releasing the remaining 1.6 billion dollars of the Coalition Support Fund for Pakistan.

During his meeting with the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke here, Zardari also pushed for the early realization of the Tokyo pledges to help Pakistan come out of the crises it is facing currently and stabilize the country’s economy.

Briefing the media persons after the meeting, Zardari’s spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said Zardari also urged Washington for an early adoption of the Kerry Lugar bill.

“These measures are necessary to expedite the country’s development program and rebuild the infrastructure as peace dividend to the people gravely affected by the huge damage caused to infrastructure due to fight against militancy,” Babar quoted Zardari, as saying.

During the meeting, Zardari also stressed the need for channeling the aid assistance through existing institutions and budgetary mechanism, The News reports. (ANI)