KABUL: (MEP) – Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan and was ready to offer all possible support in this regard. He also emphasized on the need of effective border management system between Pakistan and Afghanistan so that the issue of cross border infiltration could be addressed.
He was talking to British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who paid a courtesy call on him here and discussed various issues of mutual interest.
The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation of the continuity of British Government’s support to resolve outstanding issues between Pakistan and India.
He said that more than six decades of mutual mistrust between the two countries resulted into enhanced defense spending at the expense of their social sectors.
This tit for tat policy must end now so that conditions of the people of the two countries could be ameliorated, he added.
The Prime Minister further stated that Pakistan was keen to resolve all outstanding issues with India through dialogue.
However, he added that the resolution of Kashmir issue was possible only when all the three stakeholders – Pakistan, India, and Kashmiris – were on board.
Hague welcomed Pakistan’s approach of reconciliation towards resolving all outstanding issues with India and Afghanistan through dialogue and said that he was impressed by Pakistan’s efforts to create enabling environment for negotiations.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz, Minister of State for Commerce Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, Acting Secretary to the Prime Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad, and Pakistan High Commissioner for UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan were present during the meeting.
Meanwhile, British Home Secretary Theresa May also called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and discussed matters related to cooperation on security and fight against terrorism. While appreciating UK’s support to Pakistan in its fight against terrorism, the Prime Minister termed Ms Theresa May ‘a friend of Pakistan’.
The Prime Minister briefed the Secretary on legislation and other steps taken by the government to eliminate terrorism from the country. In this regard, he said that Protection of Pakistan Ordinance was promulgated to fight against extremism in Pakistan.
The Prime Minister told the Secretary that enemy aliens had been defined and terror would be treated as waging war against the state.
Terror would be a federal offense, independent Federal Prosecution Service would be established, electronic evidence would be admissible in courts, special provision of joint investigation teams would be introduced and special high security prisons would be established for high value terrorists, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister further said that the government of Pakistan was strongly determined to root out extremism and terrorism from Pakistan. He said that Pakistan did not want the soil of either Pakistan or Afghanistan to be used against each other by alien enemies.
Secretary May lauded the legislation done and various steps taken by the Government of Pakistan to eradicate the menace of terrorism. She also lauded Pakistan’s role in Global War on Terror (GWOT) and also acknowledged the huge sacrifices made by Pakistan in terms of human lives and economic losses. The secretary assured the Prime Minister of all support in fight against extremism and terrorism.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Adviser on Foreign Affairs & National Security Sartaj Aziz, Minister of State IT & Telecom Ms. Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan, Minister of State for Commerce Engr Khurram Dastagir Khan, Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, Fawad Hasan Fawad, Acting Secretary to the Prime Minister and Pakistan High Commissioner for UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan were present during this meeting.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that anything which hurts Pakistan’s sovereignty will not be accepted.
Talking to media persons, he said that his current visit to the United Kingdom was bearing fruit due to the growing stronger bilateral ties.
He said Pak-UK ties were on the high wave, growing stronger with each passing day. The UK accorded high importance to its ties with Pakistan, he added.—Agencies
