ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: The Foreign Office on Monday downplayed the projected significance of the visit to Pakistan by the Nato’s commander in Afghanistan, saying Nato officials frequently visited Islamabad basically to coordinate joint efforts to review the situation.
When FO spokesperson Tasnim Aslam’s attention was drawn to a reported call by unnamed Nato commanders from five countries that their governments ‘get tough’ with Pakistan over its alleged support for the Taliban, she wondered who those Nato commanders were and what they were up to.
Her response to reports that the commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan during his visit here this week would present evidence of the alleged Taliban training camps in Pakistan was: “Well we will see what he has to present.”
Referring to the UN secretary-general’s recent report on Afghanistan, she said: “…for us the authentic commentary on the situation would be what the secretary-general has said.”
Ms Aslam, who was speaking at a weekly briefing, quoted sections of the report which noted that insurgency in Afghanistan was being carried out mostly by the Afghans operating inside their country and identified five centres of the insurgency. She called the report “a clear indictment”.
KASHMIR: She was somewhat evasive on Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani’s statement that Pakistan’s Kashmir policy was against the basic perspective of Kashmiri people.
“That is his view and one doesn’t have to necessarily agree with his view,” she said.
In reply to a question, she said Pakistan would not comment on the issue of the death sentence of Kashmiri citizen Mohammad Afzal Guroo by an Indian court until a decision was taken.
“We are watching the situation closely. We understand that there is a clemency appeal by the family of Mohammad Afzal.”
The spokesperson was nonchalant about reports that India had shared evidence of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in Mumbai blasts with US and also planned to do so with other countries.
“By all means if they want to share it with the EU or others, fine,” she said. “But for us these are just allegations as long as we don’t see evidence.”
Ridiculing a Bharatiya Janata Party’s proposition of pre-emptive strikes to dismantle alleged terrorist camps in Pakistan, the spokesperson said: “When the BJP was in power it was alleging even then that there are so-called terrorist training camps and it was again during BJP’s government that we had one million forces deployed on our borders. Did they think of pre-emptive strike, did they think it was possible?”
In reply to a question, she said that no dates had yet been firmed up for the foreign secretary-level talks with India. However, she indicated, the meeting was likely to take place after Eid.—Q.A.
