KARACHI: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi said that Pakistani military leadership was not informed by United States about the drone attack which killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour prior to its execution.
He said, “Pakistan does not have the technological means to detect drones”. He also completely rejected it to be an intelligence failure by any means. “There are certain domestic and international elements involved. But some matters cannot be disclosed,” he added. He said, “Pakistan may protest against drone strikes, but cannot strike back decisively… Such attacks will never be permitted in Pakistan”. He said that the US drone policy will not only adversely affect the attacked region but it will also be harmful for the western powers.
Answering the question that why Pakistan continues to seek aid from US despite its repeated violations of Pakistan’s territorial sanctity he said, “Ideally, it is our goal to not seek any aid from them, but Pakistan’s economic conditions make it so. We do not actively seek aid from anyone”. Speaking on the issue of American demand to act against the Haqqani Network, Fatemi said that Pakistani forces were already working against several militant organizations including Taliban and Haqqani Network. However, he added that the room for negotiations is also open and Pakistan is not the only country in contact with the Taliban, as “talks are the only way forward”.
He said, “We are trying to keep dialogue and negotiations going with the [Afghan] Taliban. Negotiations with the Taliban have reached a rather unique junction. Our agencies will contact the new leadership. Whatever decisions and progress we had made in the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) is now nil, thanks to the drone strike”. “Pakistan alone cannot bring peace to Afghanistan, it is a collective international responsibility,” he added.
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