AsiaNet-Pakistan Premier Editorial Content and Press Release Distribution Service
Islamabad:
Federal Ministers,
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee,
Services Chiefs,
Members of the DCC,
I have convened this emergency meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet to evaluate the situation arising from the NATO/ISAF air attacks on Pakistani border posts in the Mohmand Agency in which 24 officers and men of the Pakistani Army lost their lives and 13 were injured, some of them critically.
I have, on behalf of the Government and the people of Pakistan, expressed our strong indignation and condemnation of these attacks. On my instructions, a strong protest has been lodged with the US and at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
The Foreign Secretary called in the US Ambassador and conveyed in no uncertain terms that these attacks constituted a grave breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty were in flagrant violation of international law and a breach of the red lines that had been clearly indicated to the United States as well as to the NATO/ISAF.
The whole basis of Pakistan’s cooperation with NATO/ISAF that was based on mutual respect and mutual trust has been called into question by these attacks. The border coordination mechanisms and established norms and rules to ensure against such incidents were bypassed or ignored.
Our cooperation with the United States, NATO/ISAF was premised on fundamental and essential understanding on following a partnership approach to curb militancy and terror.
Targeting of Pakistani posts well inside the Pakistani border, especially when the location of these posts were known to the other side, cannot but be seen as extremely unfortunate and provocative and thus calls into question the very basis of cooperation.
I have called this meeting of the DCC to not only evaluate the situation but also deliberate the steps necessary in providing an effective national response to these unwarranted and unacceptable attacks.
I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to near and dear ones of the brave men who embraced Shahadat and also our prayers and good wishes to those who sustained injuries.
I would now call on the Director General Military Operations to give us a briefing.
For more information, contact:
Syed Haider Ali Jafri
Personal Secretary
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Government of Pakistan
Tel: +9251 921 0335 and 9056604