PM has given clear instructions not to seek external assistance: FO

Pakistan has neither made nor intends to make request for international assistance, says foreign ministry spokesperson

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reiterated  on Thursday that the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan was an internal matter and it had not asked for any international assistance .

“We have very clear instructions from the prime minister [to not seek external assistance],” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said during her weekly press briefing.

She said, “Pakistan has neither made nor intends to make a request for international assistance. It has been made very clear that all expenditure related to temporarily displaced Pakistanis will be met from our own resources.”

She hoped that following the end of the operation, the IDPs would return to their homes, adding that “our own resources will be mobilised to settle them to restore their normal life.”

In response to a question about communication with the foreign world regarding the operation in North Waziristan, Alsam said that the operation is an “internal matter” and that there has been “no specific communication about the operation.”

However, she did say that Pakistan has “regular contact and conversation with Beijing and Moscow”, adding that Pakistan has received a “positive reaction” to the “focused and comprehensive operation to eliminate terrorism”.

Aslam also said that the number of people who have sought refuge in Afghanistan following the operation is still unclear. She said that following the operation, as the area is being cleared people have begun to return, adding that the number of those who have returned is about 14,000.

Indo-Pak Relations

Aslam, during the briefing, said that a meeting with the Pakistan and Indian foreign secretaries would take place in the “not very distant future”. She reminded the attendees of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitiation to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend the former’s inaugural ceremony.

The meeting, she said, was directed during the meeting of the two prime ministers to “look at how the process of dialogue is to be taken forward.”