Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and EAM Subrahmanyam Jaishankar with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd hold a news conference during the fourth U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue at the State Department in Washington
Highlights
- Pakistan categorically rejected what it called the "unwarranted reference"
- Pak's FO termed it unfortunate to use bilateral cooperation mechanism to target a 3rd country
- India’s insinuations against Pak were a desperate attempt to conceal its atrocities in J&K: FO said
Pakistan on Wednesday categorically rejected what it called the "unwarranted reference" in the Joint Statement issued after the US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, asking Islamabad to take "immediate, sustained, and irreversible action" to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks.
The Foreign Office termed it unfortunate that a bilateral cooperation mechanism was used to target a third country for political expediency and to mislead public opinion away from the real and emerging terrorism threats. "The gratuitous reference in the statement alluding to some non-existent and dismantled entities betrays misplaced counter-terrorism focus of both countries,” FO said.
"The assertions made against Pakistan in the statement are malicious and lack any credibility,” it said, referring to the Indo-US Joint Statement issued on April 11 in Washington. The FO said that it also conveyed its concerns to the US. "Our concerns and rejection of the unwarranted reference to Pakistan in the US-India Statement have been conveyed to the US side through diplomatic channels,” it said.
It said that Pakistan remained a major, proactive, reliable and willing partner of the international community in the global fight against terrorism over last two decades and its successes and sacrifices were unparalleled and widely acknowledged by the international community, including the US. No country in the region has sacrificed more for peace than Pakistan,” it said.
It said that India’s insinuations against Pakistan were in fact a desperate attempt to conceal its "atrocities" in Jammu and Kashmir. "We expect and urge the partner countries to take an objective view of the issues of peace and security in South Asia and refrain from associating themselves with positions that are one-sided, politically motivated, and divorced from ground realities," it said.
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