ISLAMABAD The Government on Monday said President Asif Ali Zardari had not given any form of consent for US or allied forces to carry out strikes inside Pakistan.
`The President has been saying consistently is that if the coalition forces see any evidence of cross-border activity then that actionable intelligence should be shared with Pakistan immediately so we can take action on the ground. At all forums the President has clearly asked all allies and forces to respect Pakistans territorial integrity. At no point will the President or this government compromise on Pakistans sovereignty.` Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman said in a statement.
The remarks came after Zardari`s interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) was reproduced in Pakistan, raising many eye-brows. The WSJ reported that Zardari acknowledged that the US was carrying out predator missile strikes on Pakistani soil with the consent of his Government. `We have an understanding, in the sense that we are going after an enemy together`, he was quoted as saying.
He was also reported to have said that India had never been a threat to Pakistan and terming the militant Islamic groups operating in Kashmir as terrorists.
Rehman said Zardaris visit to the US was a major success as the President effectively communicated to the global community Pakistans position on the war on terror as well as respect for its own territorial integrity.
She said that President Zardari took the international community onboard on issues pertaining to the scourge of militancy and extremism in Pakistani and on the significance of supporting Pakistans efforts to fight terrorism.
She said it should be noted that when the strategic forum of Friends of Pakistan was floated, the US Secretary of State, Rice was emphatic in asserting that they were supporting the Friends of Democratic Pakistan, making it clear that all the countries represented there had full confidence in the countrys new leadership.
Rehman said that the President strongly conveyed to the international community the need for a joint counter-terrorism strategy, and for Pakistans allies to respond to its military and strategic requirements for fighting terrorism. `Unilateral actions by the US often serve as a setback to our joint efforts against terrorism,` she said. `Rather, as the President has said, they create a negative impact on Pakistans position on terrorism and turn the tide in favour of militancy.`
Nowhere in the statement had she said that the President had been misquoted by the Wall Street Journal, but said that the government was firmly committed to extending moral and diplomatic support to the just cause of Kashmiris for their right of self-determination.
She said the President has made it very clear that the just cause of Kashmir and its struggle for self-determination has been a consistent central position of the PPP for the last forty years.
`There has been no change in this policy,` said Rehman. `The President has never called the legitimate struggle of Kashmiris an expression of terrorism, nor has he downplayed the sufferings of the Kashmiris. All his statements on India should be viewed in context of Pakistans current bilateral relations with that country.`
The Federal Minister pointed to the ongoing Pakistan-India composite peace dialogue and several confidence-building measures as an example of the warming bilateral relations between the two countries. `However,` she said, `our efforts for peace with India will not be traded off with our principled stand on Kashmir.`
