Pakistan-US ties: final policy guidelines to come from parliament: foreign office

Pakistan is working with the United States to remove the existing problems in bilateral relations, but final policy guidelines will come from parliament, which is currently reviewing new terms of engagement, Foreign Office spokesperson Abdul Basit said on Thursday.
Responding to queries from media persons during his last weekly press briefing, Abdul Basit, who will be replaced by Moazzam Ahmed Khan, pointed out that there were problems in relations between the two countries following the Salala incident and both sides were working to overcome difficulties.
"Pakistan and the US have mutual desire because we are both important to each other, to have good, normal and mutually beneficial relations. So, we never broke our relations with the US. There is a problem and both sides are working to over come the current difficulties in our bilateral relations," he said.
He said that all visits from Washington and bilateral interactions were aimed at discussing all the issues and to see how best "we can address the present difficulties".
However, he made it clear that final policy guidelines would come from parliament, saying that all were waiting for the process to complete, as both the countries attached importance to this relationship.
He hoped that once the parliamentary process was over, the two countries would be able to get together and define outlines of bilateral engagement which would be based on mutual benefit and mutual respect.
Responding to a question, he denied that Pakistan was facing Saudi Arabia's pressure against going ahead on the multi-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. He said that Saudi Arabia was a brotherly country with which Islamabad had very strong relations in all areas, adding that it was also a significant member of the group of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan and an important development partner.
"I can tell you that there is no pressure from Saudi Arabia on IP Gas Pipeline project," he said, adding that Iran was also a brotherly country and there were no linkages involved between "our relations with Saudi Arabia and our relations with Iran". He said that Pakistan attached highest of importance in further deepening its relations with the two countries in all spheres.
When asked whether India had also expressed the desire to rejoin the IP project, he said that he was not aware of any such development.
In response to the Indian offer to restart the dialogue process with Pakistan, the spokesman said that Pakistan had always maintained that all issues between Pakistan and India, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir, should be resolved through dialogue.
As far as Siachen and Sir Creek were concerned, he said that both issues were already part of the ongoing dialogue process between the two countries and hoped that the process would quickly move forward.
"We hope that as the dialogue process moves forward, the two countries will be able to move beyond the confidence-building measures because it is important for them to settle these issues and move forward," he said.
Referring to the recent meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said both the leaders reiterated the mutual desire to have a pragmatic and practical dialogue process and move forward towards resolving the contentious issues bedevilling the relations.
He hoped that the meeting would help push the dialogue process forward. However, he said that effectiveness of any dialogue process hinged on its results.
On a question about an expansion of Pakistan's nuclear capability, he said that Islamabad's nuclear deterrence was integral to "our security calculus".
"We will maintain the credibility of our deterrence at the minimum possible level under all circumstances - so, this we will do, come what may," he said.
About the US embassy's expansion and a reported letter sent to CDA by ISI chief expressing 'serious concerns' over the matter, the spokesman said that Islamabad was looking into the matter and the authorities concerned were in touch with all the relevant departments.
About Pakistan's participation in the Chicago summit, he said that no decision had yet been taken about Islamabad's participation in the summit being held on Afghanistan.
The spokesman also said that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani was scheduled to visit UK for the first annual review of the Enhanced Strategic Dialogue to be held in the second week of next month.
About the remarks made by Prime Minister Gilani at his residence in Lahore, which generated rumours about the removal of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, the spokesman said that it has already been clarified by the Prime Minister's Office. By a "fresh team" the Prime Minister had meant the new Foreign Secretary and the High Commissioner-designate to New Delhi, Salman Bashir, he said.