India should act if it wants dialogue: Foreign Office
Tasnim Aslam points out that it was Delhi that cancelled the scheduled talks
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Thursday made it clear that India will have to make the first move if it wants to resume the stalled peace process between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
“We believe the onus is on India to take the initiative,” foreign ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told reporters at her weekly briefing.
Tasnim said Pakistan had acted in good faith when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accepted the invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two prime ministers had a constructive meeting then and they had decided that the foreign secretaries of the neighbouring countries should meet, according to her.
But then without any solid reason India cancelled the scheduled talks, she pointed out.
Her statement came a day after the European Union ambassador expressed concern over the cross firing along the Line of Control and Working Boundary and urged the two countries to resume the composite dialogue.
Earlier this week, Prime Minsiter’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also painted a grim picture about the prospects of resumption of talks with India.
Pakistan slams drone strike
The spokesperson also strongly condemned the latest drone strike in Mada Khel area of the North Waziristan Agency.
“The government of Pakistan has a well-known position on these strikes and has consistently maintained that they are counterproductive and unnecessary and a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan, and we therefore demand their immediate cessation,” Tasnim said.
Answering questions, the spokesperson said Pakistan was strictly following the policy of non-interference in Afghan affairs and urged others to follow the same.
“Pakistan is most affected by any instability in Afghanistan. We have been encouraged by statements from Afghan leadership that Afghanistan will not allow its territory to be used against its neighbours and Afghanistan would not allow any proxy war on its territory,” she maintained.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2014.
Pakistan on Thursday made it clear that India will have to make the first move if it wants to resume the stalled peace process between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
“We believe the onus is on India to take the initiative,” foreign ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told reporters at her weekly briefing.
Tasnim said Pakistan had acted in good faith when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accepted the invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two prime ministers had a constructive meeting then and they had decided that the foreign secretaries of the neighbouring countries should meet, according to her.
But then without any solid reason India cancelled the scheduled talks, she pointed out.
Her statement came a day after the European Union ambassador expressed concern over the cross firing along the Line of Control and Working Boundary and urged the two countries to resume the composite dialogue.
Earlier this week, Prime Minsiter’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also painted a grim picture about the prospects of resumption of talks with India.
Pakistan slams drone strike
The spokesperson also strongly condemned the latest drone strike in Mada Khel area of the North Waziristan Agency.
“The government of Pakistan has a well-known position on these strikes and has consistently maintained that they are counterproductive and unnecessary and a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan, and we therefore demand their immediate cessation,” Tasnim said.
Answering questions, the spokesperson said Pakistan was strictly following the policy of non-interference in Afghan affairs and urged others to follow the same.
“Pakistan is most affected by any instability in Afghanistan. We have been encouraged by statements from Afghan leadership that Afghanistan will not allow its territory to be used against its neighbours and Afghanistan would not allow any proxy war on its territory,” she maintained.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2014.