Islamabad: Faced with condemnation over its apparent support to non-state actors to perpetrate acts of terror on Indian soil, Pakistan is now resorting to cheap theatrics to engage the international fora which is shifting to India’s favour given its stand against terror and its growing economic prowess.
In a show of unmatched duplicity following the ghastly terror attack on the Pathankot air base in January this year, Pakistan has now turned its back to the whole process of investigation and said that India was engaging in an unhelpful blame game over the Pathankot terror attack.
In a statement issued here, Premier’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that it is a peaceful country and wants its foreign policy including with neighbouring nations to be based on friendship and brotherhood and that New Delhi was using the January 2 attack as an excuse to derail the bilateral dialogue process.
Aziz further maintained that the talks are the best way to resolve outstanding issues, including mutual concerns related to terrorism.
He said Pakistan and India had agreed to start the dialogue in December 2015 when Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Pakistan.
"But before the Foreign Secretaries could meet and finalise a schedule for resuming the Comprehensive Dialogue, the Pathankot incident of 2 January 2016 gave India an excuse to postpone the resumption of the dialogue," he said.
"Pakistan believes that dialogue is the best way forward to resolve outstanding issues, including mutual concerns related to terrorism," he added.
He said Pakistan sent a Joint Investigation Team (SIT) to India and has already initiated the required investigation against those alleged to be involved. Notably, India has provided actionable evidence to Pakistan substantiating that the attack emanated from its soil. However, Pakistan has failed to act upon it for reasons best known to them.
The India-Pakistan talks were stalled after the January 2 attack on Pathankot IAF base in which seven Indian security personnel were killed. India has accused Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed for the attack and has linked the resumption of the dialogue process to the action taken by Pakistan against the group.
Pakistan to continue to support Kashmiris' struggle
To a question, Aziz said that Pakistan would continue to support Kashmiris' struggle for the right of self- determination at bilateral level in talks with India as well as at multilateral forums like the UN.
Aziz reiterated that US drone attack on May 21 which killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansour damaged the efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
"The recent drone attack in Balochistan in which the Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed, has breached our sovereignty, caused a serious setback to the peace efforts and intensified hostilities in Afghanistan. The drone strike must, therefore, be condemned by all stakeholders," he said.
He said Pakistan's relations with the US have improved since Nawaz Sharif took over but the main issue affecting the ties is American indifference towards security needs of Pakistan.
"In our interactions, we firmly conveyed to the US that maintaining effective nuclear deterrence is critical for Pakistan's security and only Pakistan itself can determine how it should respond to the growing strategic and conventional imbalances in South Asia," he said.
With PTI Inputs
