LAHORE, Jan 7: ARD President Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan has started consultations to hold an all-party conference to evolve national consensus on important issues, including India’s aggressive designs against Pakistan.

FBI’s operations in Pakistan, preparations being made by the US and UK to attack Iraq will also be among other important subjects on the agenda.

The APC would be held after the Jan 15 by-elections as till then parties in the ARD and the MMA would be busy in the election campaign of their respective candidates.

A decision on extending invitation to the ruling PML-Q would be taken in consultation with opposition parties.

The Nawabzada told reporters on Tuesday that India was issuing bellicose statements which reflected that it was waiting for an opportunity to attack Pakistan. Allegations being levelled by various Indian leaders that Pakistan was involved in cross-border terrorism were aimed at justifying the ‘aggressive designs’, the senior leader said.

The ARD chief said the US was also threatening Pakistan and the Pakistanis. Pakistan, he pointed out, had already been included in the list of suspect countries despite its leading role in war against terrorism. The humiliation the Pakistanis were having to face in the US was beyond description, he said.

He said a US official had recently threatened that Pakistan would have to face serious consequences in case it was established that Islamabad had transferred nuclear technology to North Korea. The Nawabzada said although UN inspectors had failed to recover weapons of mass destruction even after weeks of inspections, America and Britain were preparing to attack Iraq. Forces were being gathered for the purpose and anything could happen anytime.

He said in such a situation, he would like all political parties to adopt the same course of action. The APC, he said, would provide them with an opportunity to exchange views and decide what the country should do.