News
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Mere apology won’t work: Pakistan* Khar says coalition forces have crossed ‘red line’ several times
* Pakistan can’t see its soldiers being killed anymore
* Our sovereignty more important than Aghan peace
By Ijaz Kakakhel
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told the Senate committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday that the NATO attack on the Pakistani border posts, and the killing of 24 soldiers was not an accident and that only an apology would not be enough.
She reiterated that the government had determined to review its engagement with foreign forces in the war on terror. She stated that a mechanism existed with Afghanistan through which Pakistan was informed about any military movement near the border 24 hours prior to it and regretted that in this case, Pakistan was not as per the agreement. She said that this was something which would be not be tolerated in the future.
The government, particularly the Defence Committee of Cabinet (DCC), had decided to revisit its terms of engagements with ISAF forces, decided not to attend the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan, called for the evacuation of the Shamsi Air Base and blocked all NATO supplies. “I think only an apology by NATO/US is not acceptable to Pakistan,” she said, adding that the red line calling for no foreign boots on Pakistani soil had been violated several times.
“We have to protect our own interests, not the other country’s,” she stated, adding, “There is a need to re-assess our position in the entire process.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk