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Pakistan wants complete halt of US drone strikes: FO
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday said it wants complete halt of US drone attacks instead decrease in the frequency.
During the weekly news briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said Pakistan’s stance on drone attacks was that they are unacceptable, kill innocent people and violate the country’s sovereignty. She said Pakistan has consistently discussed this issue with United States and demanded that these violations of territory should stop.
The spokesperson said, “Our voice on drones has also been endorsed by the international community.” Aslam added Pakistan also welcomed US President Obama’s statement regarding drone attacks.
Regarding the question of UN Security Council’s resolutions on Kashmir, Tasneem Aslam said, “How can one country decide that these resolutions are not valid.”
She said at United Nations, the member states condemned the countries for violating UN Resolutions.
Aslam said if at some point Pakistan, India and the Kashmiri people will reach an agreement on the settlement of Kashmir issue, then they will have to go to UN Security Council to endorse that decisions and bring another resolution to endorse the new procedure.
Replying to a question, the spokesperson said bus service on the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir has been restored while it is expected that truck service will be restored soon.
She said Pakistan has accepted Indian proposal of early convening of working group to discuss LoC trade in order to revisit the modalities in this regard.
Tasneem Aslam said Pakistan wants to resolve all disputes with India through dialogue for sustainable peace in the region.
Replying to a question on visits of Saudi high officials, she informed that Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman is reaching Pakistan today (Thursday) on a two-day visit. She said during his stay, he will meet Prime Minister and other officials.
Regarding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s expected visit to Turkey to attend tri-lateral summit there, she said details will be announced before the visit. She however said if visit took place, the Prime Minister will be participating in business meetings beside trilateral talks.
Replying to a question on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, she said project still exists, however, there were some technicalities regarding its timeframe and financing which needed to be discussed with Iran. She said realistically Pakistan is seeking new timeframe for the completion of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project.
Commenting on negotiating with Taliban, she said it is not in the jurisdiction of Foreign Office as it is an internal issue.
On the question of death of Indian fisherman in Landhi jail, Karachi, she said he was ill for quite sometime. She added efforts are being made for repatriation of the body.
APP
Courtesy www.geo.tv