By Muhammad Luqman
Pakistan has rejected the declaration of BRICS summit and insisted that it has no terrorist safe havens.
“we reject BRICS declaration. There are no safe terrorist safe havens in Pakistan,” said Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir hours after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa called for “end to violence in Afghanistan in a joint declaration.
“Most of Haqqani Network terrorists are killed in Afghanistan, and most of the [terrorist] attacks in Pakistan are traced back to Afghanistan. This is the proof that Afghanistan is the safe haven of terrorists,” Pakistan’s Defence Minister said.
BRICS leaders in a declaration had expressed concern on the security situation in the region and violence caused by the Taliban, (Islamic State)…, Al-Qaeda and its affiliates including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP and Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Earlier at the meeting of National Assembly’s standing committee on Defence, Khurram Dastgir Khan ruled out the possibility of any foreign aggression.
He said Pakistan’s ground, aerial borders and maritime boundaries are being strictly protected.
Commenting on Donald Trump’s announcement of US policy toward South Asia, he said unnecessarily alarm bells were being set ringing after US president’s statement. “People should not be scared, and political leaders should also avoid giving emotional remarks.”
He lamented that international community failed to acknowledge Pakistan’s anti-terrorism operations.
When asked to comment on crisis in Myanmar, he said “We are reviewing issue of Rohingya and will soon announce our policy”.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria has said that Pakistan is seriously concerned about the threat posed by terrorism and extremism in the South Asian region.
“Many terrorist groups based in the region, including in Afghanistan, such as the TTP [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan] and its associates like JuA [Jamaat-ul-Ahrar] have been responsible for extreme acts of violence against Pakistani people,” he said in a statement.
He further said, “We are deeply concerned at the presence of groups like Daesh, ETIM and IMU in the ungoverned spaces in Afghanistan as they pose a threat to peace and security in the region.”
(This is developing story)
