Oct 15 , 2015
News
No footprint of Islamic State in Pakistan: FO
Khalilullah says Pakistan will not tolerate militant outfit on its soil
APPISLAMABAD - Foreign Office spokesman Qazi Khalilullah on Thursday said that neither there were any footprint of the Islamic State in Pakistan nor would it tolerate the outfit on its soil.
“The Islamic State is based in the Middle East,” he told journalists during a regular weekly briefing. On Pakistan-Turkish relations, the spokesperson said that the two countries enjoyed very deep cooperation in trade and many other fields.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has had frequent talks with Turkish leadership reflecting their close relations. Reiterating Islamabad’s stance on the Islamic State, he said that it was against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
On Afghanistan, he said that as the prime minister had stated a few days back that Pakistan was making efforts for dialogue in Afghanistan. Pakistan supports peace and security in Afghanistan, it has already facilitated first round of talks and is ready to help hold the second round if Afghanistan wants it to do so, the spokesman said.
An intra-Afghan talks was the way forward for a lasting peace in Afghanistan, he said. He billed as unfounded the allegations by Afghanistan that Pakistan had been assisting Taliban, saying non-interference in Afghan affairs was the pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
Asked for comments on the latest reports that the US was mulling over stay in Afghanistan beyond 2016 in view of resurgence of Taliban, he said that it was up to the Afghan government to make a comment on it. However, he said that Pakistan was clear that peace and security was very important in Afghanistan and the US was also supportive of it.
On Palestine, the spokesperson said that Pakistan had condemned killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces recently and had always extended its support to the inalienable right to self-determination for the Palestinian people.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk