ISLAMABAD, July 23: Amid mounting clamour about the possibility of US military action in Pakistan’s tribal areas to dismantle alleged Al Qaeda safe havens, the government on Monday issued a stern warning against such a move, saying it would be “unacceptable” and would negate the principles of international law.

“We have stated in the clearest terms that any attack inside our territory would be unacceptable,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a weekly news briefing here.

“We do not want our efforts to be undermined by an ill-conceived action from any quarter that is inconsistent with the principles of international law and would be deeply resented in the tribal areas and generally in Pakistan,” she said.

The spokesperson sidestepped a question on whether Pakistan would diplomatically invoke the international law in case the US went for a strike. “How Pakistan would react, at this stage this discussion is hypothetical,” she said.

To another query, she said Pakistan had formally conveyed its concern and position to the US government on the matter.

The spokesperson asserted that Pakistan remained deeply concerned over the possibility of Al Qaeda or any other terrorist entity establishing a sanctuary or regrouping or regenerating inside its territory and declared: “Our government and our security forces are determined not to permit such a development,” pointing out that these terrorists have threatened Pakistan, attacked the security forces, killed innocent civilians and targeted Pakistani leadership.

“For the success of our counter-terrorism endeavours, it is important to focus on effective cooperation and coordination rather than talk of actions that would further complicate our ongoing efforts to fight Al Qaeda and other terrorist elements,” she said, adding: “Any action to be taken inside our territory is to be taken by our security forces. That is the basis of our cooperation”.

Ms Aslam said Pakistan had its own intelligence gathering network on the basis of which it took action, adding: “And if the US or any other country has any concrete information to share, any actionable intelligence to share, they should share it with us and we will take action.” She said it was not sufficient to make hollow claims about Osama Bin Laden’s presence in the country, adding that the government had absolutely no information about his whereabouts.

When her attention was repeatedly drawn to alarming statements emanating from Washington about a possible strike, she argued that “no threats had been issued” but there was talk of the “possibility” of a strike.

Defending the North Waziristan peace deal, she said it was part of a comprehensive strategy to tackle the issue of terrorism and extremism. “Our view is that the deal was helpful,” she stated. To another query she said Pakistan faced no threat on its eastern border.

NUKE DEAL: Commenting on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the spokesperson observed: “We share the concerns of security analysts that the agreement would help bolster India’s nuclear weapons capability. We will continue to watch the situation closely.” She said as a fast-growing economy, Pakistan’s energy needs were increasing. “We are prepared to accept all IAEA safeguards for civilian nuclear power plants…We also support the idea of establishing nuclear parks to supply electricity,” she said.