Pakistan on Thursday said no verbal agreements would be made in the future with Washington and there would be complete transparency and predictability in its relations with the United States. “The Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) has clearly recommended that no verbal commitments be made, and everything should be reduced to paper.
I think once parliamentary process is complete, we will definitely proceed in accordance with the policy guidelines,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit at the weekly press briefing.
He said, “We do not see any reason as to why the government of Pakistan should be giving any verbal commitment on any issue because this whole process is aimed at bringing about transparency and predictability in our relations with the US and NATO. The government will strictly abide by parliamentary policy guidelines.”
The FO spokesperson was asked that the parliamentary committee had recommended that all the agreements with the NATO and the US should be written, so was it that the previous understanding and agreements for the logistic support and usage of air corridors were oral?
“If you read the parliamentary committee’s recommendations carefully, you would see that they referred to two written documents. One has already lapsed in February this year which was about Acquisition and Cross-servicing Agreement with the US. The other was an MOU signed on 19 June 2002 with the ISAF, with the UK, then the lead nation. That MOU is still valid,” Basit said.
He said, “The parliamentary committee has recommended that these written agreements should be revisited, if need be, and appropriate provisions are incorporated to preserve Pakistan’s interest.”
“Depending on what the final recommendations and the policy guidelines of the joint parliamentary session are, we will then proceed accordingly but obviously if we were to revisit some of the agreements which were concluded in 2002, we will have to engage with the US intensively. For now, we are all waiting for the parliamentary process to complete,” he said.
To discuss the PCNS recommendations, US Ambassador Cameron Munter also called on Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar at the Foreign Office on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, Hina Khar said the parliamentary process would give public ownership to the re-engagement and transparency and predictability in Pakistan’s relations with the United States.
Meanwhile, when Basit was asked about Bangladeshi press reports that former ISI DG Asad Durrani provided money to Bangladeshi government in 1991, he said, “Let me say that these news reports are totally baseless. These are not only baseless but also part of mischievous efforts to damage the brotherly and mutually beneficial Pakistan-Bangladesh relationship.”
“Pakistan strictly adheres to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs of other countries and that it would be ill-advised to give credence to such false, misleading and self-serving stories,” he said.
When his attention was drawn to media reports that some French were being trained by the Taliban in North Waziristan and the French authorities had raised the issue with Pakistan, he said, “I deny these reports.”
Asked that as a policy statement Pakistan always condemned drone attacks inside Pakistan and what would the policy be after the parliamentary process, he said, “The parliamentary process is not yet complete. So, let us wait.”
“Our position on drone attacks is very clear. We consider these as illegal, unacceptable and counter-productive. It is an issue that involves our sovereignty. So, we cannot really agree or accept drone strikes inside Pakistan under any circumstances. We have made our position very clear on that,” Basit said.
Asked whether Pakistan saw the Taliban as the next major stakeholder in Afghanistan, Basit said, “Pakistan’s position was made very clear by the prime minister himself in his statement on February 24 urging all parties, including the Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami to join the reconciliation process.”
“Our position is very clear. We do not support any specific group. What we support are the efforts which lead to genuine reconciliation in Afghanistan and ensure peace and stability there,” he said.
To a query on diplomatic efforts being made by Pakistan about separatist Baloch elements living in European countries, he said, “As I have told you earlier we had made demarches with certain countries and that we had been assured that they would not allow their respective territories to be used for anti-Pakistan activities.”
Commenting on 32 Indian consulates working in Afghanistan and their role in destabilizing Balochistan, he said, “Your information about the number of Indian consulates in Afghanistan is incorrect. There is definitely foreign interference in Balochistan, and we are not oblivious to external interference.”
