Drones operation: Pakistan neither written nor has verbal agreement with US: foreign office

Pakistan Thursday declared that it has neither written nor verbal agreement with United States on drones operation inside its territorial border, terming these strikes as illegal, unacceptable and counterproductive.
"Under no circumstances Pakistan will agree to any action which violates its sovereignty", said Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit while responding to queries of reporters during weekly press briefing, adding he was not aware of any secret deal or understanding made during Musharraf regime with the US.
He said that Islamabad considers drone strikes as illegal, unacceptable and counterproductive. "This is an issue, which involves our sovereignty, so we can't really agree or accept drone strikes inside Pakistan territorial borders under any circumstances", he added.
When asked are drone strikes affecting normalisation of Pak-US relations, he said "I do not see why should this issue affect the normalisation of Pak-US relations because Pakistan has shown in the past that we can deal with terrorists through our own resources", adding that Pakistan has been telling the US that it can deal with militants and terrorists through its own resources provided real-time intelligence was shared and other arrangements were in place.
He also pointed out that Pakistan killed and arrested over 700 al Qaeda operatives during last eight years in the campaign against militancy and there was no question of its capacity to deal with the militancy. About the future Pak-US co-operation, the spokesman said that the ties between the two countries would depend on the final recommendations and the policy guidelines of the joint parliamentary session. "We will then proceed accordingly but obviously if we were to revisit some of the agreements which were concluded in 2002, we will have to engage with the US intensively. For now, we are all waiting for the parliamentary process to complete", he added.
He pointed out that the parliamentary committee in its recommendations referred to two written documents-one has already lapsed in February this year which was about Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement with the US and the other was an MOU signed on June 19, 2002 with the Isaf, with the UK, then the lead nation, which is still valid.
He pointed out that the parliament committee has recommended that these written agreements should be revisited, if need be, and appropriate provisions are incorporated to preserve Pakistan's interest. He further said that the Committee has clearly recommended that no verbal commitments be made, and everything should be reduced to paper.
"I think once parliamentary process will complete, we will definitely proceed in accordance with the policy guidelines. We do not see any reason as to why the Government of Pakistan should be giving any verbal commitment on any issue because this whole process is aimed at bringing about transparency and predictability in our relations with the US and Nato", he said, adding that the government will strictly abide by parliamentary policy guidelines.
To another question regarding some disgruntled Baloch leaders involved in unrest in Balochistan and currently living abroad, Basit said that demarches have been made to the governments concerned who have assured that they will not allow their territories to be used for anti-Pakistan activities.
About Afghan reconciliation process, he said that Pakistan's position was made very clear by Prime Minister Ginali in his statement on February 24, urging all parties, including the Taliban and Hizb-i-Islami to join the reconciliation process. "Our position is very clear. We do not support any specific group. What we support are the efforts which lead to genuine reconciliation in Afghanistan and ensure peace and stability there", he pointed out.
The spokesman said that President Asif Ali Zardari would be visiting Tajikistan at the invitation of his Tajik counterpart Imamali Rahman to attend Nauroz celebrations in Dushanbe on Sunday. He said the visit will provide an opportunity to the two leaders to review all aspects of excellent bilateral relations.
They will provide guidance on the measures to further enhance bilateral political‚ economic‚ defence and security relations. They will also reflect on development of rail and road infrastructure and air connectivity between the two countries. He said that the President will also meet other leaders attend the celebrations. He said President Zardari will also attend a quadrilateral summit with leaders of Tajikistan‚ Iran and Afghanistan on Monday to discuss Afghan situation and economic co-operation.
About Pakistan's position on the controversial North Korean nuclear programme, he said that Pakistan supports six-party talks to create a nuclear weapons free Korean peninsula and it is important that, in the meanwhile, the parties concerned should refrain from any statements or steps that may be unhelpful in the process.
He told a questioner that currently there were five Pakistanis detained in Guantanamo Bay and the issue is repeatedly being taken up with the United States. He said so far nothing positive has emerged but hoped that our efforts would lead towards that end. The spokesman also denied reports that Paris has raised with Islamabad that Taliban were providing training to some French in North Waziristan.