Pakistan backs drones’ aim, not method: Minister
We have to find ways which are lawful, which are legal, says Khar.
NEW YORK:
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Thursday that Pakistan supported US aims in its secretive drone war over Pakistani territory, but not the methods, which she said are backfiring.
Khar, speaking at the Asia Society in New York, said she accepted the US government’s reasons for the onslaught, but called the strategy short-sighted.
“What the drones are trying to achieve, we may not disagree. We do not disagree. If they’re going for terrorists - we do not disagree,” she said. “But we have to find ways which are lawful, which are legal.”
“The use of unilateral strikes on Pakistan territory is illegal,” she said. “It is illegal and it is unlawful.”
Ignoring opposition to the drones, she said, is “about choosing to win the battle at the cost of the war. These are battles. You get one terrorist, two terrorists, fine. But are you winning the war?”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2012.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Thursday that Pakistan supported US aims in its secretive drone war over Pakistani territory, but not the methods, which she said are backfiring.
Khar, speaking at the Asia Society in New York, said she accepted the US government’s reasons for the onslaught, but called the strategy short-sighted.
“What the drones are trying to achieve, we may not disagree. We do not disagree. If they’re going for terrorists - we do not disagree,” she said. “But we have to find ways which are lawful, which are legal.”
“The use of unilateral strikes on Pakistan territory is illegal,” she said. “It is illegal and it is unlawful.”
Ignoring opposition to the drones, she said, is “about choosing to win the battle at the cost of the war. These are battles. You get one terrorist, two terrorists, fine. But are you winning the war?”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2012.