Pakistan

Boat incident: Coast guard's statement exposed 'Indian drama', says FO

Foreign Office welcomes Indian government's decision to send its foreign secretary to Islamabad

Our Correspondent February 20, 2015

Foreign office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam. PHOTO: PID

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office on Friday said Pakistan welcomes the Indian government's decision to send its foreign secretary to Islamabad.

Speaking at a news conference here, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said the dates for the foreign secretary-level talks have not yet been finalised.

She said that Pakistan believes in holding dialogue to improve its relationship with India.

Commenting on the Pakistani boat controversy, Tasnim said Indian coast guard DIG's statement exposed the Indian "drama".

Talking about the Afghan peace talks, the spokesperson said that Pakistan was ready to facilitate the reconciliation process.

COMMENTS (7)

Raj - USA | 9 years ago | Reply Who were those on the boat that was burnt down and how many were they? I do not think Pakistan will ever come up with answers to these and the reasons are obvious. Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam is conspicuously silent on this.

Gp65 | 9 years ago | Reply ET Mods - many commentators seem to misunderstand what his news item means as can be seen by the nature of the comments. Please allow my comment which clarifies. It is clear now that the Indian coast guard DIC who had claimed to destroy the terror oat contrary to statements from Indian government was lying. The video of the boat has been released and it proves what Indian government had been saying all along i.e. that the boat self destructed and it wasn't destroyed by Indian coastguard. This is the comment I had made earlier thatif it came to believing the defense minister who has a track record of integrity and a bombastic coast guard official, I would believe the defense minister. I have been proved right. Our government is not perfect but people do not lie in the parliament. @Observer: he (the coast guard DIC) DID not set the boat on fire as he had claimed. The new videos released proved that the boat self destructed. I am sure the proper proceedings will take place to hold him accountable for his hateful lies which vitiated the already tense situation between the two countries. You are misinterpreting the FO statement. She is stating that the DIC coastguard was wrong and by implication the Indian government claiall along i.e. the boat self destructed was correct. @Liberal: Indian defense minister was correct o deny what the Indian DIC said. The videos prove that the boat self destructed and was NOT blown up by the coast guard just as the Indian overnment had iniially indicated. So what the Indian government had said all along was correct. One pompous guy thought he would take 'credit' for the event and no one could prove him wrong. Well he has been proved wrong and Indian government's stand including Parrikar's stand is vindicated. That is exacly what this FO is saying.. @Zara: not sure you are following the news. All along India had said that he boat was doing some illegal transaction and when challenged by coastguard it self destructed. Yesterday the DIC of Indian coastguard put a question mark on Indian overnment's story claiming that he had lown it apart. Today he has been proved wrong by releasing the video which makes it clear that Indian government had been honest all along. The boat must have been doing something shady or why else would they self destruct when challenged? All the people accusing Indian government of lying have been proved wrong.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Observer | 9 years ago | Reply Is he being court martialed for setting the boat on fire OR for revealing it and exposing India’s false flag move?

zara | 9 years ago | Reply And its so embarrassing he said blow off ,he knows what is blow off?

Liberal | 9 years ago | Reply @Sun Tzu: Then why has Indian DM Parriker denied what Loshali has said? Why not come clean?

Sun Tzu | 9 years ago | Reply Remember this was the Coast Guard was Indian; not anyone else. So what drama are you talking about? In India we believe in truth and honesty, not denial and duplicity.

Usman | 9 years ago | Reply It was the responsibility of the FO to investigate the matter when it occurred, rather than waiting for Indians to shoot themselves in the foot. Then still, FO only responded when IK pressurized the govt. If left to their own devices this Govt. would rather hand over Pak to Modi.

Replying to X