ISLAMABAD, March 26: Pakistan said on Monday that it was opposed to imposition of sanctions as they were counter-productive and pressed for a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear issue.
“We do not favour imposition of sanctions which we believe are often counter-productive,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a weekly news briefing here when asked about Pakistan’s position on the latest sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council on Iran.
Ms Aslam underscored the need for a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear issue and said: “We hope that the parties concerned would pursue efforts to find a negotiated settlement of this issue. This is also the intent of the resolution.”
AL AND SAARC SUMMITS: Replying to a question, the spokesperson said there would be discussions on President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s Middle East peace initiative at the Arab League Summit in Riyadh this week. She said President Musharraf would be attending the summit as a special guest of the Saudi king.
The spokesperson confirmed that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would represent Pakistan at the 14th Saarc Summit being held in New Delhi next week.
PAKISTAN-INDIA: The spokesperson disagreed with a view that lack of substantial progress on Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek was because Pakistan was militarily weak and therefore India was dragging its feet on the issues.
When asked why the first meeting of the recently constituted joint committee to redress the plight of prisoners in Pakistan and India was being delayed when both the governments claimed it was a high priority issue for them, Ms Aslam said: “We are ready to hold this meeting when India is.”
EU KASHMIR REPORT: Commenting on the revised draft of the Kashmir report adopted last week by the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, the spokesperson said that it was a marked improvement in the original draft report which she characterised as totally negative, discriminatory and biased.
She said the report still had many negative elements which needed to be rectified.
WAZIRISTAN PEACE PACT: When the spokesperson’s attention was drawn to an American official’s statement that the North Waziristan peace deal had not delivered, she said that the US government had not conveyed this position to Pakistan.
Pointing to the fact that in the past few days local tribesmen had taken on foreigners coming from across the border, she said: “If any one had any doubt about the success of this deal, it should be obvious to them now. This shows the success of the strategy that the government has adopted.”
On US senators’ reported calls for fair and free elections in Pakistan, Ms Aslam said they ought to look at the commitments President Musharraf had made with the people of Pakistan in this regard. “This is a matter which concerns the people of Pakistan more than anybody else.”
