ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it was “saddened” by remarks by British Prime Minister David Cameron that it was exporting terror, adding these did not reflect ground realities.
Pakistan is a key ally of the United States whose help is crucial for US efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan.
Cameron’s remarks, made on Wednesday during a visit to Pakistan’s arch-rival India, came days before an expected visit by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to Britain.
“Obviously, we are saddened by Prime Minister Cameron’s remarks in Bangalore to an Indian audience. These remarks are contrary to the facts on the ground,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told a news briefing.
Basit said Cameron’s remarks were prompted by classified US military reports published by the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks Website. Some of of the classified reports appear to reveal that Pakistan secretly aided Taliban militants while taking billions of dollars in US aid.
“You can never draw the right conclusions from misguided reports,” Basit said. “We should not be creating unnecessary hype around these reports and get distracted.”
The 77,000 classified documents tangentially deal with Pakistan and the alleged involvement of its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency in the Afghan insurgency.
Washington has condemned the disclosures and said it could threaten US national security.
Basit said the international community had acknowledged Pakistan’s efforts in the fight against militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and it would remain unaffected by such accusations.
“This malicious campaign that has been going on now for years against Pakistan and against our security agencies – particularly ISI – cannot belittle our achievements and cannot blight our record against militants and violent extremists,” he said. – Reuters
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