Pakistan on Friday rejected assertions in joint statement of U.S.-India 2+2 Dialogue and Joint Press Availability about the alleged cross border attacks on India side and also conveyed its concerns and rejection to the US.
"We take strong exception to the unwarranted references to Pakistan in the Joint Statement issued in Washington after the conclusion of U.S.-India 2+2 Dialogue," said Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui, adding the anti-Pakistan assertions made by Indian Ministers of Defence and External Affairs during the Joint Press Availability are equally reprehensible.
She further stated that Pakistan also took exception to the selective and one-sided nature of the Joint Statement. "The grave humanitarian and human rights situation in the Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) caused by India's unilateral and illegal measures of 5 August 2019 and its belligerent rhetoric and actions pose a serious threat to peace and security in South Asia," she said, adding that failing to take cognizance of this serious situation is tantamount to abdication of international responsibility.
She said that the international community recognizes Pakistan's efforts, sacrifices and successes in the fight against terrorism. "We believe India's state-terrorism in IOJ&K and its threats to Pakistan imperil regional peace and security," she added. "Our concerns and rejection of the unwarranted reference to Pakistan in the U.S.-India Joint Statement have been conveyed to the U.S. side through diplomatic channels," she added. In the context to Pakistan, the joint statement of US-India 2 +2 Dialogue, stated: "Condemning terrorism in all its forms, the Ministers called for concerted action against all terrorist networks, including al-Qa'ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Haqqani Network, Hizb-ul Mujahideen, TTP and D-Company". The Ministers called on Pakistan to take "immediate, sustained, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorism against other countries in any manner, and to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of cross-border terrorist attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot". India appreciated U.S. support at the United Nations for terrorist designations, including of JeM leader Masood Azhar, and the United States welcomed changes in Indian law that will facilitate further cooperation on terrorism designations, it added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019