News
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Stop ‘blame game’, Pakistan tells Afghanistan
KABUL: Pakistan called on Tuesday for the “blame game” to stop as the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan met to discuss security in the region amid a Taliban insurgency and heightened tensions over cross border shelling. Afghan President Hamid Karzai suspects Pakistan fired 470 rockets into his country over the past three weeks. Islamabad says only “a few accidental rounds” may have crossed the border when it pursued terrorists fleeing into Afghanistan. The escalation of fighting on the border has underscored the difficulties the three countries face in working together to reach a political settlement. “We need to end this blame-game,” Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told a press conference in Kabul. “We need to take ownership for our own affairs. This problem will not go away if we keep on pointing fingers at each other, we have done it for too long,” he said. Pakistan blames Afghanistan for giving refuge to terrorists on its side of the border, particularly in Kunar province, leaving it vulnerable to counter-attack when it chases them out of its own Tribal Areas.
On Tuesday, the US ambassador in Kabul regretted that Islamabad dealt well only with those terrorists who were a direct threat to Pakistan. reuters
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk