‘Unwanted references’: Pak rejects US-India statement asking it to act on terror

Pakistan rejected what it called “unwarranted references” against it in a joint US-India statement on terrorism, saying it was important that partner countries, a reference to US, should refrain from one-sided positions.

The Pakistan foreign office was reacting to the statement at the end of the 17th meeting of the US-India Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism and the third session of the Designations Dialogue held virtually on September 9-10. It had said India and the US “underlined the urgent need for Pakistan to take immediate, sustained, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks, and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot.”

“Our serious concerns and rejection of the unacceptable reference to Pakistan in the aforementioned joint statement have been conveyed to the US side,” the Pakistan foreign office said in a statement on Tuesday.

It was important that “partner countries take an objective view of the issues of peace and security in South Asia,” it said. It also urged them to “refrain from endorsing positions that are one-sided and divorced from ground realities”.

Claiming that Pakistan is a country “most affected by cross-border terrorism, sponsored and supported by India”, it said the world recognises Pakistan’s efforts, sacrifices and successes in the fight against terrorism.

“Pakistan has repeatedly underlined that peace and stability in South Asia is threatened by the irresponsible policies and actions of the RSS-BJP regime in India — including towards its minorities, its state-terrorism in Indian occupied Kashmir, and its belligerence against Pakistan and other countries in the region,” said the statement.

It urged the world to “reverse course and desist from playing a role detrimental to regional peace and stability”.