0
ISLAMABAD: Rejecting any foreign pressure on the bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Iran including energy sector, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said Pakistan being a sovereign state would do whatever was in its own interest.
“We are a sovereign country and we will do whatever is in the interest of Pakistan,” Gilani said while responding to a question during “Prime Minister Online” programme, jointly hosted by PTV and Waqt News.
He said Pakistan and Iran have bilateral relations and cooperation in diverse fields including energy, gas pipeline, electricity etc.
The prime minister said there have been ups and downs in the Pak-US relations, adding, Pakistan wants to expand ties with the United States on partnership basis as well as on mutual interest and mutual respect basis.
He said Pakistan and US also have a common goal of success in the war against terrorism.
Gilani, however added, the United States should refrain from interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs, so that there is confidence building and the masses in Pakistan do not have any ill feeling about the US.
The prime minister also referred to the recent Pak-Afghan-Iran Trilateral Summit held in Islamabad and said the issue of political reconciliation (in Afghanistan) was discussed in length with President Hamid Karzai.
He said since there was no military solution in Afghanistan, there was a need to find a political solution.
The prime minister said Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States wanted to find a permanent solution, adding, the solution can be sought through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process.
