US curbs won't impact Pak stance on Iran pipeline: FO
27 January, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Responding to a question about US sanctions on Pakistan if it went ahead with the Iran-Pakistan pipeline, the Foreign Office spokesman said on Thursday there was no change in the country's stance.
"We are working to complete the project by 2014. We believe that this project is beyond the scope of relevant UN resolutions which we are obliged to comply with like all other member states," the spokesman at the Foreign Office told the weekly media briefing.
Meanwhile, engagement with the United States is presently going on only at the diplomatic level and is on hold at the political level till new terms of engagement are rewritten. At the diplomatic level, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar met with US Ambassador Cameron Munter, while Pakistan's Ambassador in Washington is also meeting US senior officials there. However, "interaction at the political level (between the two countries) would have to wait till the completion of our parliamentary review currently under way to rewrite the terms of engagement with the US/NATO," the spokesman said.
This was the message given to Ambassador Munter by Minister Khar in their recent meeting.
In Afghanistan, however, both Pakistan and the US are in contact at the diplomatic level for the release of 30 Pakistani prisoners at Bagram. "There has been some progress. I would like to underscore that our mission in Kabul is working overtime to ensure the return of our prisoners from Afghanistan," said the spokesman.
Keeping in line with Pakistan's recent overtures to improve relations with India the spokesman, unlike in the past, took a very charitable view of India buying a new nuclear submarine from Russia. "Pakistan-Russia relations are significantly improving. We are trying to expand the scope of relations. I think it is important that all countries in the region should be mindful of the fact that an arms race is in no one's interest. This region is suffering from poverty and disease. It is important we focus on economic development. Millions of people are still living below the proverbial poverty line. All countries should make conscious efforts to avoid an arm race," the spokesman said commenting on this new development.
As Foreign Minister Khar prepares for a visit to Kabul, the dates for which are being worked out, the spokesman explained that both bilateral and trilateral processes between the two countries complemented each other. "We are not supplanting the one with the other. We have always tried to build strong bilateral ties with Afghanistan. We have also pursued other tracks to promote peace in Afghanistan. These bilateral, trilateral or multilateral tracks are not mutually exclusive", he said.
To a query about contacts with the Taliban and whether they have shared their peace talks with the US with Pakistan, the spokesman sidestepped the query, "I do not know about that, but it is important that the reconciliation process in Afghanistan moves forward with a view to achieving long-term stability in Afghanistan."
He was of the view that whatever the circumstances, Pakistan has always wished Afghanistan peace and stability. "Pakistan will keep on contributing in this regard", he said, adding that reconciliation in Afghanistan was Pakistan's top priority. "We have always categorically said that we will be supporting an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process. This continues to be our position. We will support any effort that leads to reconciliation and political stability in Afghanistan."
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