ISLAMABAD: Pakistan remains committed to peace and stability in Afghanistan and would continue to work with members of the international community including the Afghan government to make 2017 a year of cooperation for peace, security and stability in the region.t
In response to media queries the Spokesperson of the Foreign Office, Nafees Zakaria on Monday said that Pakistan’s resolve to defeat terrorism remains unwavering.
Emerging terrorist networks like ISIL, he said would not deter Pakistan from continuing its valiant struggle against terrorism.
Pakistan welcomes the sentiments of all those who have acknowledged Pakistani leadership’s commitment to supporting the realization of a stable and peaceful Afghanistan besides recognizing the complexities involved in achieving peace, stability and security in Afghanistan and expressing a desire to work with Pakistan to eliminate terrorism.
He said that Pakistan had followed with keen interest the deliberations in the US Senate on the situation in Afghanistan and discussions in the US media and think tanks on Pak-US relations.
“We have also taken note of the voices recommending a holistic review of the US policy to see how Pakistan and the US could work together to promote peace and security in the region for the benefit of both countries and the region”.
“We are, however, disappointed with some of the assertions and insinuations made in the recent discussions about terrorist safe havens in Pakistan that we feel are misplaced and not in sync with the current situation on the ground.We strongly believe that any discussion on the future of Afghanistan and the way forward in Pakistan-US relationship should take into account that Pakistan chose to stand with the international community for a common cause following the tragic attacks of 9/11 and has paid a staggering human and financial cost”.
This, he said had also been Pakistan’s longest war costing over 60,000 fatalities and $ 118.3 billion in resources. Pakistan alone has lost more soldiers in this fight than the number of soldiers from all the 40 coalition partner countries combined. Pakistan has undertaken this momentous effort, while hosting one of the largest refugee populations in the world and operating under the limitation of an unregulated border.
He said it should also be taken into account that the remarkable success of our decade long military operations in FATA, especially Operation Zarb-e-Azb and continued law enforcement activities, Pakistan had been successful in destroying and eliminating the command and control structure of terrorist outfits operating from Pakistan-Afghan border. APP