Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday informed the Senate that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has assured Pakistan that there is no need to be worried about as India is not being assigned any strategic role in the South Asia. Winding up a debate in Senate about significance of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) declaration with particular reference to China's views about Pakistan and government's diplomacy in this regard, he said that BRICS declaration must not be used to judge Sino-Pakistan relations as a more tough statement was issued after Heart of Asia summit, to which Pakistan was signatory.
He said that Pakistan-based terror networks named in BRICS declaration were given undue coverage in media as the statement came after US President Donald South Asia policy on August 21. "The statement issued after Heart of Asia conference that took place in Amrister [India] in which Pakistan also participated, was much tougher. India is unnecessarily celebrating. And the reason it got undue media coverage was because it came after Trump's August 21 statement," he added.
The terrorist groups about which Xiamen Declaration expressed concern, Asif said, had already been declared terrorists by UN, and proscribed organizations by government of Pakistan and India must stop celebrations. Asif clarified that Pakistan's policy regarding banned organization is in accordance with the policy of United Nations, adding a ban was imposed on proscribed organizations to bar them from collecting hides on Eidul Azha.
The foreign minister said that relations of Pakistan have further improved with all its friendly countries such as Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and China after the tough talk that President Donald Trump did against Pakistan in his Afghan policy speech on August 21. "Pakistan is not facing any kind of diplomatic isolation in wake of Trump's speech in August. It was being assumed that Pakistan would become internationally isolated following Trump's speech but it did not happen," he added.