ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Foreign Office said on Thursday that visit of the US Secretary of State John Kerry would initiate a new round of Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue and the entire gamut of Pakistan-US relations will be discussed.
Both Pakistan and the United States will hold the ministerial meeting of their bilateral Strategic Dialogue in Islamabad in January 2015 at which John Kerry will lead his country’s delegation.
In her weekly media briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, the Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said that regional issues and international situations will also come under discussion during the strategic dialogue.
The Foreign Office spokesperson further said that Pakistan cannot afford distraction or hostility with India on the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary as it is in the midst of crucial counter-terrorism operation Zarb-e-Azb.
The spokesperson said that Pakistan armed forces are conducting operation Zarb-e-Azb against militants in the northwestern tribal region.
“We cannot afford distractions at a time when we are in the midst of a very crucial counter terrorism operation,” she said.
Recently, the continued cross-border firing incidents have intensified the tension along the de facto border between Pakistan and India. At the same time, both the neighboring countries are exchanging allegations of ceasefire violations.
“Hence, any effort to create the perception or impression that Pakistan initiates these violations, creating or prolonging tension is totally baseless,” Tasneem Aslam said.
In reply to a question about the so called terror boat incident, she said that India has not approached Pakistan through diplomatic channels.
Tasneem Aslam said that based on media reports, our authorities in Pakistan are conducting an inquiry into the incident primarily to ascertain if any Pakistani fishing boat is missing at sea.
“There appears to be no sound evidence to substantiate the Indian allegations,” she said.
“We expect that there would be a transparent investigation by the Indian government to ascertain the facts of the incident and the circumstance in which the boat caught fire and some people got killed,” the spokesperson said.
On December 31, two personnel of Pakistani Rangers were killed when the Indian border security forces (BSF) resorted to unprovoked firing ahead of a flag meeting ceremony in the Shakargarh sector of Narowal district.
Later, the prime minister’s adviser on national security and foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz addressed a letter to the Indian external affairs minister Shushma Swaraj to lodge protest on the killing of two Punjab Rangers soldiers.
To a question about the letter written by Sartaj Aziz to the Indian external affairs minister, Aslam said that India should launch an investigation into the conflict, instead of denying it.
“We expect that India, instead of denying, would investigate the circumstance under which the two soldiers of Rangers were martyred, conduct a transparent inquiry and bring the responsible for this crime to justice,” the spokesperson said.
Watch foreign office Pakistan weekly briefing on January 8, 2015
