Islamabad March 9 (TNS): The National Assembly was told on Friday that Pakistan believed in a meaningful relationship with the United States based on mutual respect and trust.
In a written reply, Minister for Foreign Affairs Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that after a negative tweet of US President Donald Trump, the Pakistani leadership decided that Pakistan’s response would be measured. He said that the National Security Committee in its meetings took stock of the entire situation.
Asif said that during recent high-level engagements with the visiting US delegations, they were told that the unwarranted allegations by the US President belied the cooperative history of the relationship, which served mutual interests in the region.
The minister said that despite the accusations, Pakistan remains committed to the stability in the region and supports all efforts towards an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
He said that the people of Pakistan were prepared to defend their honour, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the homeland.
In a written reply, Asif said that the situation on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary was rapidly deteriorating since 2017.
He said heavy weapons including mortars were frequently being used by the Indian forces on the civilian population on the Pakistani side of the LoC and the Working Boundary.
He said that since the beginning of the year, the Indian occupation forces carried out more than four hundred ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary, resulting in the martyrdom of eighteen innocent Pakistani civilians.
He said the escalation at the LoC and the Working Boundary was an attempt to divert the attention of the international community from Indian atrocities in IOK.
The foreign minister said that Pakistan maintains that the role of the United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan was crucial to ensure peace and tranquility on the LoC. TNS/Radio Pakistan
