News
Friday, July 22, 2011
Relations with US extremely important* Gilani says US must not ignore Pakistan in crediting victories in war on terror
* Pakistan willing to work with US against top terrorists
* Terrorists will be beneficiaries if Pakistan, India do not talk
* Pakistan, Afghanistan must end border incursions
LONDON: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that Pakistan considered its relations with the United States as “extremely important”, and stressed that victories in the fight against terrorism must be credited to Pakistan.
“As we (Pakistan and the US) are working together in fighting terrorists, victories should be shared along with losses,” the premier told a press conference in London at the conclusion of his four-day visit.
Gilani acknowledged that Pakistan and the US were undergoing a strained period after the unilateral action by US Navy SEALs in Abbottabad against al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. “The incident resulted in misunderstanding between the two countries after Pakistan voiced its reservations for not being taken into confidence for violating its sovereignty,” he added. “Pakistan is willing to work with the United States to track down terrorist leaders, including Ayman al Zawahiri, who succeeded bin Laden as head of al Qaeda,” the premier said in an interview with Reuters. “We have offered them that we should work together and even for other high value targets we should have a mutual cooperation,” he said, adding, “If they have some actionable and credible information, they can share with us. We can jointly work on that.”
But, he said, this did not mean Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) men operating alongside officers of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) – as had happened in the past. “Not on the ground. There can be some mechanism because we already have some mechanism of intelligence-sharing and joint operations. Therefore, whatever in-built mechanism, that can be worked on,” added the prime minister.
“Previously the CIA and the ISI, they have been cooperating for many years ... Even for the Abbottabad incident, some of the initial information was passed on by the ISI,” he maintained.
“Therefore, we feel let down when we saw the unilateral action from the United States in Abbottabad. That was something that was not liked by the people of Pakistan.” The prime minister asserted that Pakistan would not allow any restrictions forced on it from outside, saying that the country’s sovereign parliament had already adopted a resolution opposing such steps.
He further said Pakistan’s parliament had all the rights to review national strategies and invited the members to work on it, if required. At the news conference, the prime minister, to a question on relations with India, replied that the two countries had come on the table to discuss all the issues, including the Kashmir dispute. “Pakistan and India have realised that their relations should not be held hostage to the Mumbai incident,” he said. “If the two countries do not talk, the beneficiaries will be the terrorist,” asserted Gilani.
He also called for an end to border incursions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying the two countries must redouble efforts to end fighting along their border to prevent this jeopardising an improvement in relations.
The premier added that he hoped India could “play a good role” in Afghanistan, as warming ties between Islamabad and New Delhi reduce the deep mistrust which has seen the two countries battling for influence there. “It is in the interest of Pakistan for a stable, peaceful, independent, sovereign Afghanistan,” Gilani said. “We are part of the solution and we are not part of the problem.”
“I am regularly in touch with President Karzai so that there should be no misunderstanding, but we should avoid all these incursions because it can create problems,” he concluded. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk