ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: Pakistan on Monday dismissed the apprehensions, if any, about its nuclear installations being hit by a stray bomb from the US-led allied forces.
Responding to a question at a foreign office briefing, Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi, director-general ISPR, said that although a couple of stray bombs did fall inside Pakistan territory close to the border, no material damage was done.
When asked about a possible misfire hitting Pakistan’s nuclear installations, Gen Qureshi said: “It was ridiculous to presume such an eventuality as I have told you those were stray bombs which accidentally fell only about 10 yards away from the border”.
Answering a question with regard to PPP’s chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s recent New Delhi sojourn and her demand for a change in Kashmir policy and other internal affairs, Gen Qureshi said: “As far as her utterances as an individual were concerned, we are least bothered, but when it comes to her wish for a change in Kashmir policy, I don’t think it can have any effect as people of Pakistan were fully aware of her real intentions.”
About the possible Musharraf-Vajpayee meeting in Nepal, the ISPR chief said: “We are not sure whether such a meeting would be held; it is merely a proposition so far.”
To a query with regard to hundreds of foreigners, including Pakistanis, having been killed in the alleged revolt in Mazar-i- Sharif prison, the foreign office spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, said: “We have maintained that all those who surrender their arms become prisoners of war and they should be treated according the international law”.
He dispelled the impression that the UN had ignored Pakistan while preparing the list of participants to the Bonn conference saying: “During his visit to Pakistan Brahimi had extensive consultations with us before making preparations for the said conference.”
The spokesman added: “We hope that good sense will prevail at the meeting and the participants would devote their energies to the composition of broad-based multi-ethnic setup in Afghanistan.”
The spokesman also denied reports of a Pakistani delegation having visited Kabul recently, adding that Pakistan had never been opposed to establishing contact with the Northern Alliance.
