Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Sunday that breaking off diplomatic ties with other countries was not in the national interest asserting that Pakistan wanted amicable relations with all countries. She was talking to journalists at the prize distribution ceremony of the 27th National Women Hockey Championship at the National Hockey Stadium. Hina said that parliament would take decisions on ties with the US in the larger interest of the country. About the prevailing political situation in the country, the FM said that the country needed to forge the same kind of harmony as it had shown in reaction against the NATO attack. She said that the country was facing multiple challenges at present, adding that national unity was needed on the memo issue rather than playing dirty politics. “We must dispel the impression that an issue created on whims of an unreliable individual can force us to demand constitution of a national commission or a Supreme Court bench”, Hina said. The FM regretted the fact that journalists had been highlighting a non-issue in wake of many challenges faced by the country. She said that the nation must realise that undemocratic steps by previous regimes did not benefit the country. Regarding President Asif Ali Zardari’s health and return, the FM said that the president’s health had improved and he would return home before former PM and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s martyrdom anniversary on December 27. Earlier, Hina announced a grant of Rs 50 million on behalf of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and gave away prizes among successful teams of the hockey championship.
