ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: Pakistan said on Thursday that it wanted peaceful settlement of all its disputes with India, including the issue of Kashmir, but it was ready to repulse any aggression.
“Pakistan desires settling of all issues through peaceful means. However, Pakistan armed forces are ready to face and repulse any aggression,” a Foreign Office spokesman said at his daily news briefing.
The spokesman was asked to comment on the reports emanating from New Delhi that India might consider military action against alleged terrorist camps in Azad Kashmir.
He said Pakistan had the capability to defend itself.
On the possibility of the United States playing a mediatory role between India and Pakistan, he said Pakistan would like to resolve all outstanding disputes with India, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, through peaceful means.
He said these peaceful means could be talks under United Nations charter or through third party mediation or any other country or through bilateral talks.
The spokesman refused to comment on the presence of the United States combat troops at Jacobabad and other places in the country.
“Please refrain from asking any question regarding military affairs,” he said, avoiding repeated questions from the representatives of national and international media organizations, seeking confirmation of landing of the US troops in Pakistan.
To a question that how the Foreign Office would define the term “logistic support” offered by the government to the United States, the spokesman said: “I cannot go into the details of logistic support.”
As regards President Bush’s statement refuting President Pervez Musharraf’s claim that the military action in Afghanistan would be short, he said President Musharraf had made the statement in the context of strikes against the terrorist attacks.
Explaining Bush’s statement, he said it was about the fight against terrorism, which did not mean that it would necessarily be a military campaign.
Regarding reports about Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh’s refusal to visit Pakistan, he said he had not seen any such report.
About the visit of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the spokesman said no dates had been finalized and communicated to Islamabad as yet.
Later, a government spokesman issued a denial of the reports attributed to its spokesman confirming presence of the US armed forces personnel and aircraft in Pakistan.
He regretted such inaccurate and misleading attributions to a government spokesman by an international wire service.
He explained that in response to repeated questions, only the stated position of the government of Pakistan was reiterated that it would share information and provide airspace and logistic support to the US.
He had also emphasized that no US aircraft attacking targets in Afghanistan had flown from Pakistan.
The spokesman advised that due care must be exercised by the media while attributing remarks to the government spokesman as inaccurate attributions, interpretations and inferences could cause confusion and unwarranted misunderstandings.
DENIAL: Meanwhile, talking to PPI, the Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Khan termed as unfounded, the reports that Pakistan had allowed the United States to use its airbases for attacks on Afghanistan.
He reiterated that Pakistan did not provide any airbase to the US warplanes for attacking Afghanistan.
To another question, he said at the moment there were no US combat troops in Pakistan.
The spokesman said Pakistan said might lift ban on the entry of Afghan refugees but would deport those already inside the country if they join in violent demonstrations, adds AFP.
He said Pakistan had sealed its border to new Afghan refugees because it already had a number estimated at two million to three million and wanted displaced Afghans to receive aid at camps inside Afghanistan.
But he said Pakistan had always been generous in caring for Afghan refugees and “should the need arise, this decision (to seal the border) will be reviewed”.
Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi, spokesman for President Pervez Musharraf, warned Afghan refugees already in Pakistan they would be deported if they joined in any violent demonstrations against the US attacks.
“If they take part in violent demonstrations or if they are found guilty of destroying public property or engaging in acts of arson and violence they will be deported,” Gen Qureshi said in an interview with Reuters Television.
Gen Qureshi said Afghan refugees had formed a large percentage of those in the demonstrations, which have been mainly in areas close to the Afghan border.