Any action by Nato forces in the tribal areas of Pakistan will be considered an assault on Pakistan, said spokesman of Foreign Office, Muhammad Sadiq at the weekly briefing while commenting on the statement of the US CIA chief.
He said Pakistan has repeatedly said that any attack inside its territory would be unacceptable. The spokesman said, “All counter-terrorism measures inside Pakistan will be taken by our own security forces.
“We have also stressed repeatedly that if any country has any specific, actionable intelligence it should be communicated to us and our own security forces will take action based on that information.”
Mariana Babar adds: The Foreign Office Spokesman said that CIA Director Gen Michael Hayden had not said anything new in his recent statement. To several queries about the statement by Michael Hayden, Director CIA, regarding Pakistan`s tribal areas and whether wanted terrorists were hiding there, the spokesman said that Hayden had said nothing new. "He has repeated what the US intelligence community has generally been saying in the recent past regarding the alleged presence of al-Qaeda in the Pak-Afghan border areas,” said the spokesman.
“This border extends to over 2,000 kilometres and such a statement does not help in tracing the alleged hideouts of al-Qaeda leaders," he added. Pakistan, he said, had always stressed the importance of effective information and intelligence sharing where its forces would take action if any actionable intelligence was provided.
The spokesman said any shift in its policy on Kashmir and Afghanistan would be adjusted according to the priorities of the government. "According to the statements of the political leaders, the issue of foreign policy will be one of the national consensus and what the nation wants will be done and it is parliament that will make amendments," he said.
The spokesman said Britain had assured Pakistan that as democracy had been restored in the country after credible elections, it would work towards calling an early meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to end Pakistan`s suspension from the council. However, no dates have been given.
He said this assurance was held out by the British Foreign Minister David Miliband in a telephone call to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in which he also congratulated him on assumption of the office as foreign minister. Qureshi did not give any response to Miliband`s assurance.
According to the spokesman, Miliband said that he was planning to visit Pakistan by the end of April and also invited his counterpart to visit London, hoping that Pakistan, as an important regional player, would continue to play its leading role in the region.
Earlier, at the weekly press briefing, the spokesman said that Pakistan and India were set to announce dates for the next foreign secretary-level talks to be held in Islamabad. "Dates for conclusion of the fourth round of the composite dialogue and start of the fifth round are being discussed at the diplomatic level and we will soon announce the same," he said.
He said that Pakistan hoped India would implement in letter and spirit the decision by the neutral commission on the Baglihar Dam. The Pakistan-India Judicial Committee on Prisoners will work on the prisoners` lists that the two countries recently exchanged. The committee will meet in Islamabad later this month and dates are being worked out.
The spokesman clarified that there was no ceiling on the number of ambassadors at large that the prime minister might wish to appoint. At present, he has appointed two who have set up their offices in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
To a query, the spokesman said there was no specific duty for these ambassadors except what would be assigned to them by the government. Also, there are no perks and privileges attached to this office and a diplomatic passport is provided to them when they travel on an official assignment.
The spokesman was reluctant to comment on the latest offer made by Russia to the US to use routes via Russia to Afghanistan. At present, the US uses Pakistan for transit to Afghanistan. APP adds: Commenting on the accusation of Indian national security advisor that Pakistan was interfering and supporting violent groups in India, the spokesman said Islamabad was strictly following the policy of non-interference.
"One should not overlook the fact that the cause of violence in Kashmir is linked to Indian occupation." In response to a question regarding demands for expelling the Danish ambassador from Pakistan, he said currently there was no Danish ambassador in Islamabad.
The spokesman said politicisation of the Olympic Games was condemnable and Pakistan would be participating in the Beijing Olympics. The spokesman said the Olympic torch would be coming to Pakistan on 16th of this month.
He said the claim by an Afghanistan minister that nuclear waste had been dumped in Afghanistan during the Taliban rule was baseless and demonstrated ignorance. "We are checking the veracity of the report," said the spokesman.
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