Printer Friendly Version

Spokesperson Briefings

Date: 16/04/2007

Record of Press Briefing on 16 April 2007

Question/Answers

Asked what had prompted the statements by the president and the Prime Minister directed at the US last week, whether there was any pressure to do or not to do something and if the threat to quit the US-led had been made because of constant accusations and allegations about Pakistan's role in the war against terrorism, the Spokesperson said:

It must be understood that we are fighting terrorism in our own interest. We are also cooperating with the international community to fight this menace. In that sense, we are part of an international alliance. For this alliance to work, mutual trust is must.

What our leaders have said is that mutual trust is necessary for robust alliance against terrorism. We also expect the international community to acknowledge Pakistan 's contributions and their own failures. We expect the international community to acknowledge Pakistan 's contributions in the fight against terrorism and not blame Pakistan for others failures

Asked to comment on the American concern about Sunni and Shia nuclear bombs with reference to the intention of the Gulf countries to acquire nuclear capability, the Spokesperson said:

Frankly, we did not know even weapons had religions and also sectarian leanings. For us, this kind of debate would be very mischievous. We do not believe that there is a Muslim, Christian, Jew or Hindu bomb. Weapons are weapons and when they are used they kill people, irrespective of their faith. Weapons do not discriminate between Muslims, Christians, Jews Buddhists and Hindus. The Gulf countries had talked about acquiring nuclear technology for civilian purposes. This is every country's right.

Asked to comment about the reports of possible meeting of President Pervaiz Musharaf with Hamid Karzai, the Spokesperson said:

At the initiative of the Turkish Prime Minister, arrangements are in hand for a possible trilateral meeting in Turkey .

Asked to brief the Prime Minister's visit to China and the agreement which were going to be signed, the Spokesperson said:

There are many agreements and MoUs which have been finalized, while a number of proposals and ideas are still being discussed. As for civil nuclear cooperation between Pakistan and China , that is long standing and it will continue.

Asked to comment on the statement of the President of Pakistan that Pakistan would not allow the joint military operations inside Pakistan , was this statement made in view of a renewed pressure on Pakistan and how much pressure was there in this issue because the President made an angry statement, the Spokesperson said:

There is absolutely no pressure. The President was emphatic not angry. He was responding to a question. There is nothing new in this statement. We have always stated that any action required to be taken inside our territory will be taken by our armed forces and we have no understanding with any one that there would be joint operations inside Pakistan . And there is no pressure of any kind. You would have seen statements of US Administration officials as well that inside Pakistan territory, Pakistan armed forces are taking action.

Asked whether Pakistan and Russia discussed cooperation in civilian nuclear technology during the recent visit of Russian Prime Minister, the Spokesperson said:

The two sides had broadly discussed the issue of cooperation in the energy sector.

Asked for comments on the surprising statement of Rahul Gandhi in which he sated proudly that India was responsible for the dismemberment of Pakistan , the Spokesperson said:

We do not find it surprising. There is nothing new in this. This is something we have known all along. Indian pretensions notwithstanding, we have always known the real motives Indian intervention in1971.

When asked if it was only India 's intervention that led to the birth of Bangladesh , the Spokesperson said:

I will not get in a debate on that. That is not the issue here whatever the reasons, India took advantage of those circumstances to dismember Pakistan and what the scion of the Nehru family has done is that he has validated that and accepted the real Indian motives for the intervention. This is where we are clear. One person of the family ruling India at that time has now come out and made a blatant admission.

In response to repeated questions on the issue, the Spokesperson said:

There is no reason why we should give so much importance to a statement which does not contain any new information but what has always been known. This is something that can not be repeated. Because today's Pakistan is very different. Today's Pakistan is capable of defending itself in every circumstance and today no one should entertain such ideas because that would be very risky and dangerous.

Asked to comment on the Afghan President's statement in which he had asked Pakistan to change policy towards Afghanistan in the interest of normalization of relations, the Spokesperson said:

We have seen media reports. We do not have any authentic text to know what exactly he said. However, the reality is that the problems of Afghanistan are inside Afghanistan . The Kabul leadership better realize it sooner than later. As clearly identified by the UN reports, the inability of the Kabul government to provide good administration, rule of law, absence of reconstruction, absence of national reconciliation, wide-spread corruption, nexus between narcotic drugs, criminals and war lords are responsible for the present situation in Afghanistan.

Mush has been said about the Taliban and Talibanization being the enemy. We agree. But who are Taliban? They are Afghans.

There are repeated complains from Kabul that Taliban are finding safe havens in the Afghan refugee camps and in our tribal areas. It is for this reason that Pakistan is instituting border controls and working for the early return of Afghan refugees.

We understand that there is legitimate movement of tribals across the border. Whatever measures we are taking to regulate and control the cross border movement, we will ensure that this legitimate movement is not obstructed.

But we will continue to strengthen border controls so that there is no room for Kabul administration to complain that Pakistani territory is being used for militancy in Afghanistan .

Asked about the progress on the issue of Pakistanis in Guatanomo bay, the Spokesperson said:

I will have to check what the present status is. The last update I had about the matter is that there were about 4 to 6 Pakistanis. The discussions for their return to Pakistan were continuing between our security officials, the officials of the Ministry of Interior and the US Administration.

Asked for comments on the reports that presently action was being taken only against Uzbeks but not against about the Arabs, the Spokesperson said:

You have to understand the spirit of the action being taken by the tribals. The tribes had undertaken that they would not allow any foreigners to indulge in undesirable activities from our area whether they are Uzbeks, Arabs or of any other origin. And they are taking on anyone who is creating problems.

When asked about the number of Pakistanis killed in Karbala terrorist incident, the Spokesperson said:

Our Embassy in Jordan is in touch with the authorities in Iraq to ascertain the number and also to see if the bodies can be repatriated.