Pakistan on Thursday said that it took all necessary measures on the basis of preliminary information provided by New Delhi on the Pathankot attack and a special probing team will shortly visit the terror attack's spot. "Blame game is unfortunate and unhelpful...JIT [joint investigation team] has been formed and modalities are being worked out for the visit of the team to India," Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said while responding to media's queries in his weekly briefing.
He said that Pakistan believes that all nations need to cooperate with each other to defeat the menace of terrorism, adding Pakistan condemned the incident and the Prime Minister called his Indian counterpart to assure cooperation. On the trial of the Mumbai terror attack, he said that Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry had written to his Indian counterpart regarding evidence required for the Mumbai trials. "These are those pieces of evidence, which Pakistan had asked for earlier also... Additional evidence from India is awaited, which is required to conclude the trial," he said, adding the issue was also discussed during the meeting between Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and the Indian External Affairs Minister on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia Conference in December 2015.
He further said that the two sides are working on the dates of the Foreign Secretary-level talks. Commenting on the recent report by Conflict Armament Research, an EU entity, which has named India as a major supplier of weapons to the terrorist organisation Daesh in Syria, he said that the UN Security Council resolution 2253 creates an obligation for all member states to prevent direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of arms to Daesh.
Asked to comment on US's demand to reduce the nuclear arsenal, he said that Pakistan's nuclear deterrence is to deter any aggression against Pakistan's territorial integrity. "It is for the defence of Pakistan and its people. As a responsible nuclear state, Pakistan has invested in ensuring nuclear safety, nuclear security and robust command and control system," he added.
He further said that the 6th Round of ministerial level Strategic Dialogue was held in Washington. He said that the 5th and 6th rounds of Strategic Dialogue mechanism will be effectively used in taking the relationship to the next level in diverse fields. On the nuclear issue, he said that Pakistan and the United States discussed all issues bilaterally, including the nuclear issue. He said the Prime Minister will also attend the forthcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in March, which will be the fourth of its kind.
"We have always underscored and worked to ensure that the world community recognises that Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and that the mainstreaming of Pakistan's nuclear program through inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is the right step," he said, adding Pakistan is an energy-deficient country and civil nuclear technology is among the sources to bridge the gap.
Asked to comment on statement by the Adviser regarding presence of Taliban leadership in Pakistan, he declined to comment on his statement but stated that there was a need to see the things in their correct prospective. About the delay in direct talks between Afghan government and Taliban, he said that the Quadrilateral Co-ordination Group (QCG) countries in their recent meeting in Kabul had agreed to continue joint efforts for direct peace talks, which the group expected to take place by first week of March.
"It is a shared responsibility of all the four countries. So far, we do not have any confirmation of the dates of the talks. The efforts are on. As soon as this information is available we will share it with the media," he said, adding the venue of the talks will be Pakistan.
To another query that the Afghan High Peace Council is suggesting to expand the Quadrilateral Group to include India, Iran and Russia, the spokesperson said the existing quadrilateral process is continuing satisfactorily and progressing well. "The process started in December 2015 and four rounds have already been held by now. All the four countries have expressed their satisfaction with the quadrilateral process," he added.
About the expected visit by Iranian President Hassan Rohani at the end of this month, he said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had earlier paid a bilateral visit to Iran and had extended invitation to the Iranian President to visit Pakistan. "A return visit of their leadership is contemplated," he added. On Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, he said that reducing the energy deficit in Pakistan is one of the key priorities of the present government including pursuing the IP project.
About Pakistan's cricket team's participation in the T20 World Cup in India, he said Pakistan strongly believes in people-to-people contacts and sports provides an opportunity to that end. "Pakistan's cricket team will participate in the T20 World Cup and it is the responsibility of the Indian government to provide them security," he added.
On the latest missiles tests by North Korea, he said that Pakistan has persistently maintained that DPRK should abide by all its international obligations and all parties should avoid actions that are detrimental to the objective of the establishment of a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula within the framework of Six-Party Talks.
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