WASHINGTON: Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua has said that Pakistan will not take any decision under pressure from the US, adding that the national interest will always be kept supreme come what may.
The foreign secretary during her official visit to Washington held meetings with senior US officials, including US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan at the State Department and Deputy National Security Advisor Dr Nadia Schadlow at the White House.
In her interaction with the US media, she underscored that a mutually beneficial bilateral relationship underpinned by mutual respect would serve the common interests of both the countries. While emphasising the need to continue constructive engagement across the entire spectrum of bilateral relationship, she reiterated Pakistan’s desire to strengthen its long standing relationship with the US.
The foreign secretary reaffirmed Pakistan’s constructive approach to work together with the United States for regional peace and stability. She expressed the hope that enhanced economic engagement can open new vistas of long-term cooperation besides strengthening the existing bonds of friendship between the people of the two countries. Janjua said Pakistan and the US wanted peace and stability in Afghanistan. She said Pakistan was fast working on a border management project, which would be completed in a couple of years. She said an effective border management would help stop cross-border movement of insurgents.
The foreign secretary said Pakistan was doing all it can to force militants associated with the Haqqani Network to leave the country. Action against militants would continue, she added.
She said the country was facing multiple challenges on the frontiers with the war-torn Afghanistan and India. Anti-Pakistan elements in Afghanistan were helping India to stoke tensions in Pakistan, she claimed, underlying the need for eliminating terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan, which she claimed were being used to sustain militancy in Pakistan.
Published in Daily Times, March 10th 2018.
