Pakistan on Thursday expressed concern over the reported sale of advanced weapons to India by some countries while stating that it would “undermine” the strategic balance in the region, PTI reported. “Pakistan will continue to raise its voice at the international fora which should objectively assess its actions and policies towards the South Asian region,” Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said at his weekly media briefing.
Zakaria’s comments came in the backdrop of reports that the United States has cleared the sale of predator Guardian drones to India. Zakaria said Pakistan would defend its national security interests “at any cost”.
Zakaria also rejected allegations about presence of the Haqqani network in Pakistan, claiming it was just “rhetoric” and an effort to shift the blame onto Pakistan. “The killing of a number of commanders of the Haqqani network in Afghanistan clearly indicate that the group is based in Afghanistan and not operating from Pakistan.”
The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson further asserted that there was no organised presence of any terror outfit like the Taliban, Jamaat-ul Ahrar, Islamic State or Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.
Stating that Pakistan supported an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” peace process in the war-torn country, Zakaria claimed that it was India which was against such peace.
The spokesperson also alleged that there were reports of Indian forces using ammunition containing chemical agents in Kashmir. He asked the international community to initiate investigations into these reports.
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