Pakistan on Thursday said that United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman's visit to Islamabad will only be productive and result-oriented when the process of reviewing its terms of engagements with Washington was completed.
"We want this visit to be productive and result-oriented. It is, therefore, important that he visits Pakistan after we have completed our homework," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said in response to media queries during weekly press briefing. He said that the parliamentary panel was in process of finalisation of the terms of engagements with the US and Nato was underway and Pakistan wanted the visit to take place after the process was completed.
He, however, neither confirmed nor contradicted the media reports in this connection that Pakistan has turned down Grossman's request to visit Islamabad. The spokesman's comments came at a time when US state department announced that Grossman will visit New Delhi on Friday (today) where he would hold talks with Indian authorities on issues related to Afghanistan, including the peace talks with the Taliban. Basit, when his attention was drawn towards the latest development, however, did not agree that the two countries were not on talking terms following the Salala incident, saying, "We are engaged at the diplomatic level and talking to each other."
He made it clear that Pakistan wants relations with the US based on mutual respect.
To a question about resumption of Nato supplies, he rejected the media reports terming them as speculation and added that no decision has been taken to restore Nato supplies.
About the meeting of Pakistan Ambassador to Washington Sherry Rehman with President Barrack Obama, he said they discussed the state of Pak-US relations. "Pakistan wants a relationship with the US free of ups and downs of a rollercoaster. It is our belief that the parliamentary process, which is currently underway to finalise the terms of engagement from our side, will lead to a positive outcome for both our countries," he added.
However, he pointed out that what Pakistan was looking for ws a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual interest. No inter-state relationship can be built without first mutually agreeing on its fundamentals, he added. He further said that Ambassador Rehman also presented her credentials to President Obama on Wednesday. To another question about Pakistan's latest stance on phrase "Af-Pak" often used by Americans, the spokesman said that Pakistan has always expressed its strong reservations apropos this term and there was no change in its stance.
Responding a question about tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran on the issue of Strait of Hormuz, he said that Islamabad has always emphasised the importance of resolving all issues through peaceful dialogue. "We agree with Russia that restraint should be shown and all issues should be resolved peacefully," he added. About reports of presence of Norwegian intelligence network in Pakistan, the spokesman said Pakistan was in touch with the Norwegian government and seeking details in this regard.