Pakistan on Thursday rejected a highly critical US report of its efforts to defeat militants, saying it would not be held accountable for US-led failures in Afghanistan.
“I would like to categorically state that we do not share the assessment of the US,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told reporters at a weekly briefing in response to a question on the White House document.
“The references to Pakistan are unwarranted,” she said.
“Pakistan should not be held accountable for the failings of coalition strategy in Afghanistan. Pakistan has a clear strategy in dealing with this and other issues and solely be guided by its own national interest,” she added.
Tuesday’s report noted a deterioration of the situation in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt along the Afghan border between January and March this year, and said Pakistan still had no clear path to triumph over insurgents.
“I would like to categorically state that we do not share the assessment of the US,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told reporters at a weekly briefing in response to a question on the White House document.
“The references to Pakistan are unwarranted,” she said.
“Pakistan should not be held accountable for the failings of coalition strategy in Afghanistan. Pakistan has a clear strategy in dealing with this and other issues and solely be guided by its own national interest,” she added.
Tuesday’s report noted a deterioration of the situation in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt along the Afghan border between January and March this year, and said Pakistan still had no clear path to triumph over insurgents.
But it also noted the “tremendous human sacrifices” made by Pakistani forces and positive military cooperation between Pakistan and Washington in the last three months, despite tensions over a CIA contractor accused of murder.
Pakistan argues that its troops are already dangerously overstretched. With an estimated 147,000 forces in the northwest – more than the number of US led foreign troops in Afghanistan – the army has also endured heavy losses.
Pakistan Thursday disputed assessment in a U.S. report that Pakistan still has no "clear path " to defeat militants on its soil and that Pakistan is avoiding direct conflict with the militants in the tribal areas. The new White House report on Wednesday also said that in spite of "tremendous human sacrifices" made by Pakistani security forces and increased military co-operation between Pakistan and U.S. in the last three months, the fight against militancy was making little progress. Reacting on the U.S. displeasure over Pakistan's anti-terrorism efforts in a report presented to the U.S. congress, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said Pakistan does not share the assessment of Washington. "We have our own assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy being followed by the U.S. and the ISAF vis-e-vis counter terrorism and peace and security in Afghanistan." She told weekly press briefing that Pakistan should not be held accountable for the failures of the strategy in Afghanistan. Janjua pointed out that Pakistan has rendered more sacrifices as compared to any other country of the world. She emphasized the need for engagement between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the U.S. to address the common challenges.
