ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar Wednesday said future cooperation with the United States would be in the form of written, black and white agreements, adding that coalition forces will no more be allowed to spill even a single drop of blood of Pakistani citizens and soldiers.
“Enough is enough. The government will not tolerate any incident of spilling of even a single drop of any civilian or soldier’s blood. The motive behind the recent reaction is to ensure national security and sovereignty of the country. There will be no compromise on national interest. We will not bow before US pressure,” Khar said while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The decision taken by the government to get the US to vacate the Shamsi Airbase and not attend the Bonn Conference was final, she said. “A notice had been sent to the US in connection with the vacation of Shamsi Airbase. Red lines were violated repeatedly,” she stated.
“We will no more stay mute over it. If Isaf will not give a guarantee of the sovereignty of Pakistan then Pakistan reserves its right to take any decision for the sake of its national interests.”
Khar went on to say Pakistan had been playing a responsible role for the establishment of peace in the region. The sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the war on terror are more than any other country,” she said, “but that does not mean we will compromise on our sovereignty.”
Khar said the Nato supply line had been suspended in the light of resolution of parliament. “Extending an apology alone will not work because not only were soldiers martyred in this incident but Pakistan’s sovereignty was also attacked,” she said. “We will have to look to ourselves rather than looking to others.”
The government was also reviewing its relations with US and coalition forces, she said. “We are a sovereign state and we will not allow our sovereignty to be tainted. Pakistan’s role in war on terror must not be overlooked,” she stressed.
Khar said the Foreign Office had no record with reference to the alleged memo of Mansoor Ijaz, nor was any letter sent to Admiral Mike Mullen by the government. “This memo was fabricated and such concocted stories have been published against Pakistan in the past also,” she observed.
Khar said Mansoor Ijaz had targeted the Pakistan army and ISI. Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has assigned the inquiry into memogate to the parliamentary committee on national security, she pointed out.
She said the PM had taken the decision to remove Hussain Haqqani from his office of ambassador in the national interest. “Therefore, Hussain Haqqani returned to Pakistan and will clear himself of all questions that have been raised,” she said. “Haqqani has played a pivotal role for the protection of national interests.”APP adds: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said the Nato attack is not an isolated incident and has raised much bigger questions than whether Islamabad will join an investigation into the event.
“I think the questions raised in Pakistan are much larger than whether we will participate in the investigation or not. I want to emphasise the fact that this is not an isolated incident,” she told National Public Radio in an interview in the wake of the November 26 strike that resulted in the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Khar, interviewed while she was in Lahore on Tuesday, was underscoring the importance Pakistan attaches to respect for its sovereignty in the fight against terrorists along the Afghan border. The foreign minister, pressing her point, also pointed out the May 2 unilateral raid on Abbottabad and the questions that it raised about the red lines that Pakistan has put in place while cooperating with the international community in the anti-terror fight.
“If the terms of engagement are not clearly understood, are not clearly respected, that gives each of the parties the right to go back and reassess the situation, and I think Pakistan is, today, just exercising that right.”Following the deadly attack, Khar said Islamabad had to do “some serious introspection to see what we make of the role that we play within the international efforts in Afghanistan.”
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