The Foreign Office has taken “strong exception to the unwarranted reference against Pakistan” in the joint statement issued following the 2+2 India-US dialogue between the US Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defence with their Indian counterparts in New Delhi last week, media reported.
In the Indo-US joint statement issued after the talks, India and US had named and called upon Pakistan to ensure its territory wasn’t used to launch terror attacks on other countries.
At the weekly news briefing in Islamabad, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said, “Pakistan rejects the baseless allegations, we have also conveyed our position to the US side”.
“Mentioning a ‘third country’ with unsubstantiated accusations in a formal outcome document is inconsistent with the established diplomatic norms,” Dr Faisal said. FO Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal
“What is more ironic is that many other thorny issues involving the ‘third country’ were avoided in the joint statement by the Indian side,” the spokesperson said, adding that Mumbai trial was ongoing in an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan and that “the judicial process shall take its course”.
Dr Faisal asked the US side “to also focus similarly, if not more, on the Indian state terrorism and the resulting humanitarian emergency in Indian occupied Kashmir”.
The spokesperson expressed surprise that there was no mention in the joint statement of the continued ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the line of control and the working boundary which poses a grave threat to regional peace and security.
Responding to a question, Dr Faisal said, “Pakistan is always ready for talks with India for resolution of all outstanding disputes and both the countries are in contact with each other through track two diplomacy.”
