Linking Gwadar with Chabahar being considered, says Sartaj

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said that Pakistan was considering linking Gwadar with the Iranian harbour Chabahar.

He said that all indicators confirmed that the person killed in the drone strike was Mulla Akhtar Mansour who was travelling on a fake identity card adding that the body of Mulla Akhtar Mansour had not been handed over to anyone. He said that the body would be handed over after completion of the DNA test. He said Mansour was killed in a drone strike carried out from Afghanistan. He said that the killing of Taliban chief Mulla Akhtar Mansoor had further complicated the Afghan situation. Pakistan had conveyed serious concern to the United States over the drone attack.

Sartaj said that the drone strike was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty as well as a breach of the principles of the United Nations’ Charter. He said that the military option had not succeeded in Afghanistan in the past and there was no chance of its success in future. He said that 390 drone strikes had been carried out in Pakistan by the US from 2001 to- date. He said Pakistan had rendered over 60,000 lives in the war against terrorism and suffered $110 billion losses due to the war against terrorism. He said the Coalition Support Fund was not aid but Pakistan’s expenses in the war against terrorism.

Addressing a news conference at the Foreign Office here on Thursday, he said that this action would also undermine the Afghan peace process.

The adviser said earlier the talks were scuttled at a key stage when the issue of reduction in violence was to be discussed in July last year. He said two days before the talks, the news of Mulla Omar’s death was released and this scuttled the talks. He said in less than a year, the peace process had been scuttled twice.

He said that Pakistan believed that this action had undermined the Afghan peace process. He said the US did not take Pakistan into confidence on the drone strike adding the US informed the army chief General Raheel Sharif after three and a half hours of the attack and US Secretary of State John Kerry talked to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over telephone after seven hours of the attack. He said on the one hand, the US held talks with Taliban and on the other hand, it was killing them adding that this was not a balanced policy of the US.

He said Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and China had agreed that a politically-negotiated settlement was the most viable option rather than efforts should continue to bring Taliban on the table. He said this understanding had not been respected.

“We believe this approach will further destabilise Afghanistan, which will have negative implications for the region especially due to the presence of a large number of terrorist groups in Afghanistan.” He said Pakistan believed that a politically-negotiated settlement remained the most viable option for bringing lasting peace to Afghanistan. The military approach had been tried for 15 years and could not achieve the objective.

He said effective border management was vital for checking the infiltrations across the long and porous Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The Afghan government’s cooperation in this regard was imperative for mutual security. He said the presence of a large number of Afghan refugees had become a big security risk as the terrorists and militants used the camps as hideouts for their nefarious activities. Effective measures should be taken on an urgent basis by the international community for the repatriation of Afghan refugees.

He said Pakistan’s desire for lasting peace in Afghanistan was motivated by the conviction that peace and stability in Afghanistan were essential not only for the people of that country but also for the entire region. He said Pakistan would continue to pursue the objective in close consultation with Afghanistan government and other members of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group. He said consultations would be made how the QCG would now more forward.

To a question, Sartaj Aziz said there were indications that Afghan Taliban would come to the negotiating table but the drone attack damaged the peace process.

Answering a question, he said Pakistan would make the US realise that to interrupt the peace process in this way was not advisable.

When his attention was drawn that Iran had denied that Mulla Akhtar Mansoor entered Pakistan from Iran, he said Mulla Akhtar Mansoor did not travel in his name but under a fake name.

The adviser said so far there had been 390 drone attacks. He said 60,000 people had lost their lives in the war against terrorism and it caused 110 billion dollar losses to the economy. He said the US aid provided in this regard was much less than what Pakistan had lost in this war. He said the Operation Zarb-e-Azb was going on successfully against terrorism and the government writ had been established in the tribal areas. “We are moving forward under the National Action Plan for peace. We want the US overall cooperation for peace process.”

Answering a question about Iran, India and Afghanistan agreement on the Chabahar Port, he said Gwadar and Chabahar ports were complementary to each other and would boost trade activities in the region. He said Pakistan was making efforts to restart the dialogue process with India. He said the economy of Pakistan was stable adding that Pakistan is a nuclear power, has a lot of resources and has the eighth biggest army in the world. He said whenever Pakistan faced challenges, it dealt with them in a better way. Sartaj Aziz said that they were confident that they would overcome the current issues and move forward in a decisive manner.