Foreign Office Spokesperson Abdul Basit has said that there is no question that the drone attacks amount to the violation of our sovereignty.
He said Pakistan has been using all diplomatic channels to bring an
end to the strikes that are damaging our efforts against militancy and
terrorism. Voices are also being raised in the West against these
illegal drone strikes. He said Pakistan is taking the issue forcefully
with the United States and hoped that the US will revisit its policy
towards that end. He said it is high time that the illegal use of drone
attacks is stopped.
About the options available for stopping the drone attacks, the
spokesman said we are waiting for the completion of the parliamentary
process on the new terms of engagements with the US. In the guidelines
of the parliament, he said we will move forward and take up the issue
with the US.
Responding to the queries of media persons at the weekly news
briefing in Islamabad on Friday he said that all stakeholders in Afghan
reconciliation process should demonstrate perseverance, patience and
sincerity of purpose for durable solution of the issue.
Over the suspension of Taliban-US talks, Foreign Office Spokesperson
said the Afghan reconciliation process is intricate and ups and downs in
it are inevitable. However it is important that all the parties
demonstrate patience and perseverance to achieve the objective of a
sovereign, independent and stable Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan on its part will continue to encourage all the
parties towards intra Afghan consensus as was underlined by the prime
minister in a statement on February 24.
Describing the parliamentary process for formulation of new foreign
policy guidelines as very important, he expressed the confidence that it
will represent the true aspirations of the people of the country. He
was confident that it will put our foreign policy on sound footing.
To a question, he rejected the notion that any of Pakistan’s base is being used for the drone strikes.
Rejecting existence of any joint mechanism between Islamabad and
Washington on the drone strikes, the spokesman said the country’s
sovereignty is non negotiable and any arrangement where our
sovereignity is compromised is not acceptable.
Regarding the visit of Pakistan’s Judicial Commission to India, Abdul
Basit said the commission will record statements regarding Mumbai
attack and hoped this will be helpful in concluding trial of the case in
Pakistan.
About Samjhota express incident, the spokesman said the abhorrent act
claimed the lives of about forty two Pakistani nationals. He regretted
that despite the lapse of five years, India has not shared any outcome
of its investigation into the incident. He said it is the right of the
families of victims to know what has been done to bring the perpetrators
of the incident to justice. He hoped India will not only speed up
investigation into the incident but also share its findings with
Pakistan.
On Pakistan-Russia inter governmental talks, the spokesman said these are likely to happen during the second half of this year. SANA
