ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Foreign Office said on Thursday 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.
In her weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, the Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said that hence, any effort to create the perception that Pakistan has initiated the violations on the border is totally baseless.
The armed forces have been engaged in fight against various banned militant outfits in the volatile northwestern tribal region since June 15.
On the other hand, at least six persons including civilians and Rangers personnel have been killed due to unprovoked firing and shelling by the Indian border security forces along the Working Boundary in the past few days. But the Indian government blames Pakistani forces for violating the ceasefire at first.
Meanwhile, addressing a gathering of Pakistani expatriates in Bahrain on Thursday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that his government made sincere efforts to improve relations with the new government in India but the efforts were not reciprocated.
The prime minister said that India cancelled the foreign secretary level talks on the pretext of the Pakistani High Commissioner’s meeting with the Kashmir leadership, which has been a practice for 60 years.
Sharif reiterated that Pakistan desire to have good relations with all the neighbors.
