Press Briefing by Spokesman on 29 March 2012
There are no opening remarks to make. Are there any questions?
Questions & Answers:
Question
My question is that it has been reported in Indian media that their Army Chief in a letter to their Prime Minister has pointed out lack of ammunition and other deficiencies in India’s defence, system. Would you like to comment?
Answer
No, I don’t have any comment to make on this.
Question
President Obama and Prime Minister Gilani met twice on the sidelines of the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. Reportedly, the President urged the Prime Minister to keep US’s security interests in view while he also expressed respect for the parliamentary process. How do you see the two aspects of Pakistan’s sovereignty and US’s security go hand in hand?
Answer
Let me respond very briefly to this question. Pakistan remains committed, more than 100%, against terrorism and militancy but Pakistan’s sovereignty is not open to negotiation.
Question
President Obama and Prime Minister Gilani had met in Seoul, Marc Grossman and the President met in Dushanbe and we were hearing-lots of good things but then we have Michael Sheen Assistant Secretary for limited warfare and emergency operations in US appearing before the Congress and saying that now we will be focusing on western Pakistan and FATA region as far as counter insurgency operations are concerned. He also made a point that actually it was Al Qaeda that came through Pakistan into Afghanistan. So, what do you think. Are we moving ahead on the issues of drones and reopening the NATO supply route?
Answer
We attach immense importance to meetings in Dushanbe and at the highest level in Seoul. These reflect very clearly that Pakistan and the US care about their bilateral relations. We would like to normalize our relations. So, we are looking forward to the resumption of normal relations following the completion of the parliamentary process which is currently underway. On the issues of drone attacks and reopening of NATO supply routes, I think we should better wait as to what policy directions the parliament finally gives us.
Question
Has Pakistan decided to attend the NATO summit in Chicago in May as President Obama in his meeting with Prime Minister Gilani reportedly invited Pakistan to attend the Summit?
Answer
You may recall that our Foreign Minister has said many times that Kabul is the most important capital for Pakistan. We obviously want a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and we will continue making our contributions in this process. Regarding the Chicago NATO Summit in May this year we have not yet decided about our participation.
Question
What are the details of the meeting of General Mattis with General Kayani?
Answer
I have nothing to add to what has already been released by the ISPR.
Question
I want your comments about a series of 4-6 hydro projects by India on Pakistani rivers as according to some sources Pakistan had issued NOCs for these projects?
Answer
You would appreciate that under the Indus Waters Treaty, India is allowed to build “run-of-the river power projects”. So long as these projects are according to the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan has no objection. Please let me know if you are talking about any specific project.
Question
According to some international media reports, there are 150-200 French who are getting training in North Waziristan. You comments please?
Answer
Please don’t pay attention to such far-fetched media reports.
Question
There are reports that Pakistan has accepted the Indian offer for supply of electricity to Pakistan. Has Pakistan accepted the offer to overcome the current energy crisis. Is that correct?
Answer
There is nothing concrete on this yet.
Question
When you say that Pakistan’s sovereignty is not for negotiation, doesn’t it implicitly accept the fact that the US has proposed to Pakistan that on the question of drones they will inform Pakistan before hand. Will Pakistan agree to such an arrangement?
Answer
As I said earlier, Pakistan’s sovereignty is not open to negotiation.
Question
According to the media reports, China has withdrawn its support for the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline and now Pakistan is looking for the Russian support. And according to Secretary Petroleum a Pakistan delegation will visit Moscow soon for negotiations on the project. Is this correct?
Answer
Yes, a Pakistan technical delegation is visiting Moscow early next month to have discussions on bilateral energy cooperation with relevant Russian authorities and companies including Gazprom.
Question
How do you analyze the meeting between Prime Minister Gilani and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh?
Answer
It was a brief, informal encounter on the margins of the Seoul Summit. The two leaders reiterated their firm commitment to the dialogue process in resolving issues between the two countries. We hope that the reiteration of this commitment by the two leaders will help push the dialogue process forward to make it result-oriented and meaningful.
Question
There are some reports that Secretary Hillary Clinton is to visit Pakistan next month. Is this correct?
Answer
There are no dates yet for her visit to Pakistan.
Question
In one of your statements, you mentioned that till the parliamentary process is complete, Mr. Grossman would not be invited to visit Pakistan. The parliamentary process is still going on but General Mattis and General Allen are here. Has the parliamentary process taken too long more than your expectations or they are here to pre-empt the parliamentary process. My second question is regarding Pakistan-India relations. When the two Prime Ministers talked about expediting the bilateral relations what are the contours of expediting this process?
Answer
As I said earlier, that Pakistan attaches immense importance to Pak-US relations. We expect the parliamentary process to complete as soon as possible. On the other hand, it is important to keep the channels of communication open. General Matti’s meeting in Rawalpindi took place in this context. For details, I would refer you to ISPR. For your second question, you know that the second round of the dialogue process is underway and talks on Wullar Barrage have just taken place in New Delhi at the Secretary level and we expect that talks on other issues will also take place in the near future, enabling the Indian Minister for External Affairs to visit Pakistan to review the second round sometime in July this year. But this is all tentative. At present, we are working with the Indian side to finalize schedule of meetings.
Question
My question is about the North Korean intention to launch a satellite into the orbit and the Chinese concerns on this issue. What is Pakistan’s position on the issue?
Answer
Pakistan’s position is very clear on the issue. We support the 6-party talks on the DPRK’s nuclear programme and we hope that all sides will refrain from taking any action or step that takes them away from the dialogue process.
Question
As the ISPR issued a statement last night and said that certain alternate proposals are being made by the US and they have forwarded them to the Government of Pakistan. But this is coming against the background of what you have said that these are not negotiations but the channels of communication. So, if Pakistan not actively involved in the negotiations and in normalization of relations then why these proposals. Don’t you think these such interaction are undermining the parliamentary process?
Answer
You have formulated your question on the basis of media reports. I have not seen that press release issued by the ISPR. Let me tell you that the Executive in very conscious of the fact that our parliament is currently seize with the matter and rest assured that no one in the government will do anything that preempts this process. This process will not only strengthen democracy in the country but also help lay solid foundations for a transparent and predictable Pakistan-US relationship.
Question
Is there any change in the policy of China in connection with the issuance of visa to people of Indian occupied Kashmir. Previously, they were not issuing visas to them on the Indian passports. What are your comments on this considering that Pakistan and China have been long term strategic friends?
Answer
There is not correct. As far as I know there is no change in China’s policy.
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