Drone attacks: US has to respect Pakistan's red lines, says Raza Rabbani
Rejects views of US officials, says drone strikes still a violation of Pakistan sovereignty, UN charter.
ISLAMABAD:
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on the National Security (PCNS) Raza Rabbani on Wednesday made it clear that the drone strikes, despite remarks of some senior US officials, were a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, and had to stop.
Speaking on a point of order during the Senate proceedings, Rabbani took an exception to a statement by some US officials who had tried to validate drone strikes under the international law. He said that the US would have to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty and the drone attacks have to be stopped.
"The US [administration] is giving lip service to respecting sovereignty of Pakistan. They have failed to honour the voice of our parliamentary resolution which was passed unanimously. This [resolution] is the will of our people as the Parliament represents the people of Pakistan," Rabbani complained.
He said that when a drone attack was carried out inside Pakistani territory after the parliamentary recommendations were finalised, he had summoned a special meeting of the PCNS and condemned the attack.
"We have also convened a meeting next week. We have also summoned the Foreign Office officials for a briefing on the recent dialogue with US ambassador (Marc) Grossman and what steps they had agreed to implement the parliamentary recommendations," he added.
Rabbani said he expected that the US administration would respect the will of the people.
"We have made abundantly clear that Pakistan considers drone attacks a violation of our sovereignty," he asserted. He said he was taken aback when he came to know that some US officials were trying to validate drone attacks.
"Drone attacks are not only a violation of our sovereignty but also a violation of the charter of the United Nations (UN). The US should read the UN report on drones. If they have red lines, the US will also have to respect our red lines," he maintained.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on the National Security (PCNS) Raza Rabbani on Wednesday made it clear that the drone strikes, despite remarks of some senior US officials, were a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, and had to stop.
Speaking on a point of order during the Senate proceedings, Rabbani took an exception to a statement by some US officials who had tried to validate drone strikes under the international law. He said that the US would have to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty and the drone attacks have to be stopped.
"The US [administration] is giving lip service to respecting sovereignty of Pakistan. They have failed to honour the voice of our parliamentary resolution which was passed unanimously. This [resolution] is the will of our people as the Parliament represents the people of Pakistan," Rabbani complained.
He said that when a drone attack was carried out inside Pakistani territory after the parliamentary recommendations were finalised, he had summoned a special meeting of the PCNS and condemned the attack.
"We have also convened a meeting next week. We have also summoned the Foreign Office officials for a briefing on the recent dialogue with US ambassador (Marc) Grossman and what steps they had agreed to implement the parliamentary recommendations," he added.
Rabbani said he expected that the US administration would respect the will of the people.
"We have made abundantly clear that Pakistan considers drone attacks a violation of our sovereignty," he asserted. He said he was taken aback when he came to know that some US officials were trying to validate drone attacks.
"Drone attacks are not only a violation of our sovereignty but also a violation of the charter of the United Nations (UN). The US should read the UN report on drones. If they have red lines, the US will also have to respect our red lines," he maintained.