Foreign office spokesman, Abdul Basit, on Thursday said that a seven to ten-member team of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is arriving in Islamabad on March 4 to further probe into the finding of Mumbai attack investigations. In his weekly media briefing, the spokesman said that FBI team led by its director Robbert Mueller is arriving in Pakistan to discuss the finding of FIA about Mumbai attacks.
The team would assist Pakistan for further information sharing and progress as far as the investigation of Mumbai attacks are concerned, he said, adding that the team has also visited India in this regard.
He said that State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Malik Ahmad, was leaving for Colombo on Thursday to lead Pakistan's delegation to the 31st two-day session of Saarc Council of Ministers meeting to be held in Colombo on February 27 to 28.
He said that the meeting has been preceded by the meetings of the Standing Committee on February 25 and 26 and the Programming Committee on the February 23 to 24. The spokesman added that the meeting is expected to review the implementation of decisions taken during earlier summits and discuss additional measures to promote regional co-operation and the forum would also be utilised for bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Council.
Over the years, he said, the Saarc has made notable progress in a number of areas including trade, finance, poverty alleviation and environment and the meeting would provide a useful opportunity for Saarc, Foreign Ministers to review the progress in the above-mentioned and other areas under the ambit of Saarc.
Basit said that Pakistan has played a proactive role to reinvigorate Saarc by providing substantive inputs and it hosted the 4th (1988) and the 12th (2004) Saarc summits and a number of ministerial and technical level meetings. To a question, he said there is no reaction from any country on the Supreme Court's verdict, disqualifying the former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif from contesting elections and holding public office.
To another question, the spokesman said that reviewing of the strategy by the US in collaboration with Pakistan and Afghanistan would bring positive changes in the region. He added that peace and security is the top priority as far as Pakistan's internal policy is concerned. He further said that Pakistan is following policy based on 3-Ds-Development, Deterrence and Defence to achieve peace and stability in the country. Terrorism is a common enemy and Pakistan believes in defeating it with joint efforts and strategy, he added.