Pakistan to raise US drone strikes with friendly countries

Pakistan has emphatically conveyed to the United States its concerns on drone attacks and raised the issue of drone attacks at different world forums including the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

“We will continue to raise this issue with the US officials at all the appropriate forums. The issue is also being discussed with the like-minded countries,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said at the weekly press briefing.

When his response was sought on recent drone strikes in North Waziristan tribal region which had killed 13 people, the spokesperson said that the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi on the directions of the prime minister summoned the US Chargé d’Affaires to the foreign office and lodged a strong protest.

“The drone strikes are in violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and international laws.The present government is giving priority to this issue and there is across the board political consensus that these strikes must come to an end.”

He said an international debate has also started against the drone campaign because of their legal and humanitarian implications. He expressed the confidence that the message regarding counter productivity of drone strikes will also reach the US.

John Kerry: US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Pakistan later this month, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

He said that Mr Kerry will pay his first visit to Islamabad in the fourth week of June but no date has yet been fixed.

Responding to questions about the US refusal to stop drone strikes in Pakistan, the spokesman said 

When asked about the violation of Pakistani airspace by the two Indian jets, Aizaz Ahmad said Islamabad has seriously expressed deep concerns on the incident. He said Pakistan and India are signatory to Prevention of Airspace Violations and this agreement should be respected.

He said the Indian authorities have termed this violation as technical one saying two of its trainee pilots inadvertently entered the Pakistani airspace. “However, we still asked India to respect the agreement”.

The spokesperson said Pakistan wants normalized relations with India. “There are some difficulties in relations but Pakistan is committed for a peaceful neighborhood.”

To a question, Aizaz Ahmad said the Afghan President has extended an invitation to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit Kabul through a letter. “However, no date has been fixed for this visit so far.  Kabul is an important capital for us and we want a peaceful, prosperous and stable Afghanistan”.

When asked about the problems faced by Pakistani community in Saudi Arabia, the spokesperson said our officials are in contact with the Saudi authorities and all possible efforts are being made to regularize their stay. He said different companies have started the process of recruiting Pakistani nationals at our missions in Saudi Arabia. These companies have so far recruited sixty five Pakistanis.

To another question, the spokesman said the secret fund of the ministry of foreign affairs has been abolished as per the instructions of the government. He said the ministry will comply with the orders of the government in this regard.

Aizaz Ahmad rejected media reports about differences or any rift between the Advisor on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi.

He said Sartaj Aziz is a capable and experienced person with profound knowledge of political and economic matters. Similarly, Tariq Fatemi has served in many senior positions. He said there is complete coherence between the two and they are working together to implement the directives of the prime minister on foreign policy.            

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Jun 13 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.