July 16, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 12, 1429

ISLAMABAD, July 15: Pakistan on Tuesday accused Afghanistan of creating an ‘artificial crisis’ in bilateral ties by levelling baseless allegations against its intelligence agencies and armed forces for “short-term political expediencies and point-scoring”.

“Pakistan rejects the baseless allegations levelled against its intelligence agencies and armed forces by President Karzai and the Afghan cabinet. Such baseless accusations serve no purpose other than vitiating bilateral atmosphere and creating an artificial crisis in Pakistan-Afghan relations,” Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said.

Expressing regret over the Afghan government’s decision to suspend bilateral and regional meetings, the spokesman cautioned that it could have implications for overall security.

He said the decision based on “flimsy grounds” ignored the importance of economic cooperation for improvement in the living conditions of the Afghan people.

He said the Pakistan government strongly believed that the goals of the relations between the two countries and the need for a credible partnership against terrorism and militancy should transcend short-term political expediencies and point-scoring.

The spokesman urged the Afghan leadership to reconsider its decision and avoid vitriolic statements. “Pakistan hopes that Afghanistan will do some rethinking and desist from such provocative statements and initiation of a blame game.”