Ambassador Hoagland was handed a demarche, emphasising the importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes. PHOTO: FILE
A statement released by the Foreign Office said that the “Government of Pakistan strongly condemns the drone strikes which are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Hoagland was handed a demarche, emphasising the importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes.
Friday’s attack came two days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the United States must call off the drone campaign.
“It was also pointed out that the Government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights and humanitarian implications,” the FO statement added.
“It was also stressed that these drone strikes have a negative impact on the mutual desire of both the countries to forge a cordial and cooperative relationship and to ensure peace and stability in the region,” the statement said.
Islamabad has repeatedly called for an end to the highly controversial US drone campaign in the tribal regions which, it says, is damaging its counter-insurgency efforts. Washington, however, considers its unmanned war effective in taking out high-value targets.
COMMENTS (47)
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@Eric Kumar
I was talking about international laws, not abilities or capabilities.Also I was not talking about John Kerry.
@Naresh All the Muslim kings in India were the sons of the soil and every bit as Indian as anyone else could be.
@Saed Nafees Ji: . Also, the people who migrate today, do so after taking permission from the destination, unlike the invaders you are praising. . Look who is talking! . You mean all the Muslim Invaders of India took Permission of the Indians who were INVADED!! . Touché!!! . Cheers
@Bewildered: reasoning is probably a word alien to you . Any crime be it rape or else the culprits are caught , prosecuted and punished. Taliban /extremists/ terrorists are never caught( so no question of prosecution). Indians do not create 9/11 in other country while pakistanis cross their fingers at any terrorist events fearing that let it not be related to any Pakistani or Pakistan. If a day is passed without a bomb blast in Pakistan that becomes a breaking news. . The logic given from your end can emanate from the land of pure only.
The US will not stop their criminal activity. It is the way they operate. There is only one way to stop their drones, and that is to shoot them down. The US will not take on Pakistan. They only start wars when there is a good chance of winning, and they need Pakistan more than Pakistan needs the US. Pakistan is financially very generous to the Americans. The Americans have made it quite clear in the last 12 years that killing innocent people by the hundreds of thousands does not bother them. One only has to look at the devastation, and loss of life in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria. The US has severely damaged all these countries, for no legitimate reason, but the damaged countries have not inflicted any harm upon the US. All the US perceived Pakistan problems will be solved if they go home, so what are they waiting for?
Talk is cheap and all we are talk! Grow up and fulfill your responsibilities by eliminating safe havens the drone would not attack. Did a drone ever attack on residential buildings of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad? Did the drones target hospitals, schools, teachers or students like the terrorists?
@Saed Nafees: What a wishful thinking. It is a news for me, there will be celebration in heaven when Pakistan will be able to shame USA. It is not wrong to dream but dreams should have certain realism. I can bet you your and mine generation won't be able to see Pakistan to achieve that standard to face America. A country which comes right at the Pakistan's military head quarter and take away Osama bin laden and army of that land is not aware of it . You are telling me you can shame America. Instead of shaming America, one needs have guts. Pakistan army can not fight Taliban and take care of its own house and how can they face, the great power. By the way Mr. Kerry has diplomatic immunity and visa to enter Syria. Please check your facts then write. Lying in not good my dear.
@naeem khan Manhattan,Ks: Mr.Khan I am sorry to hurt your feelings. But tell me where I am wrong?. You and I plus million of other immigrant present in this land endorses my thesis. Statue of liberty ----the great lady is crying with silent lips. " Give me your tired, your huddled masses, yearning to breath free, from extremist mind of religious fanatics. ( In this case Taliban ). The statue of Liberty is inviting: Saying send it to me, homeless, tempest, torn to me. I work in a non-profit agency where we help people coming from different countries . People from continent of Africa and country of Pakistan are the mostly asylum seekers. Instead of criticizing this country be thankful to God almighty for all the blessings god has bestowed upon this land free and we are being enjoying it.
@G. Din: now this is starting the discussion, who came first "egg or the hen" !!!
@umar JI: . The best way to stop the drones is for the Pakistani army to go to North Waziristan and clear it off. If my neighbor has snakes in his backyard and they come and try to bite me i will take unilateral action to destroy the snakes if their owner dosen’t tame/restrict or kill them. This same analogy applies to Pakistan. Why is is to difficult to understand for the so called bright and talented people of Pakistan. . It is very easy to stop the Drone Strikes. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has done it. . I don't see how the USA can now continue the Drone Attacks. All the USA can do is stop the Payments to Pakistan for helping USA's War on Terrorism. . Cheers
@the obvious: Yes I am aware the drones aren't capable of fighting against manned jets. If there is a more efficient way of taking them down then by all means go ahead.
Instead of strong protest, Pakistan should lodge 'strongest protest'. Period!
@Eric Kumar
If someone cuts your limbs and then they feed you a bit, will you be thankful? Similarly, we think almost all our problems are because of USA and we can't thank her for that. Thanks but no thanks for the help, we've seen how USA helped Afghanistan, Iraq and currently helping Syria on the side. Mankind migrated towards the banks of rivers such as river Nile and Indus because that is where they can grow food and raise cattle. As today with money one can buy food, people migrate to places where the money is. Also, the people who migrate today, do so after taking permission from the destination, unlike the invaders you are praising.
Good move by the new government ! We can shame them in front of the world by exposing their forked tongue and crocodile tears which she sheds in the name of democracy, human rights and international laws. Our country may have lots of weaknesses and shortcomings but we should not let USA to blackmail us because of them. Being poor and uneducated doesn't mean some rich and educated entity could take your land, property and rights by invoking some self-serving convoluted legal construct. USA has lots of double standards, for example, they don't want anyone to go to their country without visa but they enter other countries without visa like McCain did recently in Syria. If effectiveness is a good enough justification to break international laws for USA, why it shouldn't be good enough for some cruel African warlord as well. If an alien were to invade earth, it would also use the same convoluted self-serving legal constructs which USA is using today.
@Eric Kumar: Not every thing is honky dori, you should read Jeremy Scahill book: "Dirty wars, a world is a battlefield". It might just open your eyes.
@confused: "@MyHeartSpeaks: Imagine there is a village ruled by a chaudhary, he slaps a local barber every day and the barber, after going through all the humiliation goes home, gets drunk and abuses the chaudhary as loud as he possibly can only to get slapped the next day. " Now, all this would not have happened at all if the barber had not been foolish enough to abuse the Chaudhri the first time. That is how he got Chaudhri's attention.
Thanks to PTI for giving the government the words and "courage" to condemn drone strikes. All they had to do was replace 'PTI' with 'Government of Pakistan' because we have seen the following sentences by PTI many time: “Government of Pakistan strongly condemns the drone strikes which are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Good step never-the-less :)
I hope the readers understand that all this "protest" is a cynical drama designed to make the people feel that the government is against drone strikes.
Just an absolute sham. This is not even a small item in the American media today. It is all for domestic consumption by the new PML-N government. The Generals have told the previous government that if Government decides the drones can be shut down straight away with counter measures. Therefore, drones cannot get into our territory without Army's consent. So lets stop this deception and get straight answers from Army, can they stop it? It is no different as if a foreign nation fires a missile on your land killing your citizens. The drones are such missiles which are online controlled but no different in their application than a conventional missile.
thats true
There we go again , strong protest is the norm now in Pakistan. If this government means business and are serious about drone attacks then they have several options and they have the right to avail it. Obama says he has the right to do these attacks which seems dubious to me but Pakistan should also have the right to defend themselves according to the UN charter and it is time they should stand up once in their life time instead of considering their bank balances and properties in Europe and North American.
@MyHeartSpeaks: Imagine there is a village ruled by a chaudhary, he slaps a local barber every day and the barber, after going through all the humiliation goes home, gets drunk and abuses the chaudhary as loud as he possibly can only to get slapped the next day. This is one of the many analogies one can adopt in our case, where america is definitely the chaudhary.
Don't protest just enjoy Drone flight......
'Strong Protest'
Can any one, preferably the one who understands Parliamentary Language, explain to me what does "strong protest" mean? How exactly do they lodge protest strongly?? I don't see any effectiveness of these protests that are happening for long period of time..
The best way to stop the drones is for the Pakistani army to go to North Waziristan and clear it off. If my neighbor has snakes in his backyard and they come and try to bite me i will take unilateral action to destroy the snakes if their owner dosen't tame/restrict or kill them. This same analogy applies to Pakistan. Why is is to difficult to understand for the so called bright and talented people of Pakistan.
If drones strike is not a "violation of sovereignty" then a "missile strike" against a drone base should be like a "4th. of July party" . Cant be more explicit than that
WRIT, what are the meanings of WRIT? Pakistani government has no writ what so ever even in the capital from where it rules rest of the country. Isn't it strange that CDA has adopted a weird silence over the metamorphosis of residential properties into shops, electronic shops, boutiques, cafes, restaurants, hair salons, gyms and what not. Where is CDA's WRIT? WRIT starts at home ladies and gentlemen in the government.
Pakistan's national bird"Drone"!!
Good Move by PM Nawaz Sharif, PTI and the entire Nation is with you in this decision sir!
But a protest only wouldn't help, Foreign Office need to issue a clear statement that we wont allow drones to attack our people.