ISLAMABAD (Agencies) - Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said that Afghan and US forces stationed in Afghanistan could do more in the war against terrorism.
In an interview with BBC TV, the foreign minister said that IranÂ’s issue should be settled through diplomatic channels instead of force. He observed that attack on the Islamic republic by Israel or the US would be considered aggression against the entire Ummah.
The foreign minister said like India Pakistan also needed nuclear energy to meet its increasing power needs for the fast expanding economy. He asked the United States to help Pakistan meet its growing needs. To a question, he said that as IranÂ’s nuclear programme was purely peaceful, nobody should be concerned about it.
He claimed that Pakistan would become the fourth largest democracy in the world in 2021.
On PakistanÂ’s unwavering commitment to combating terrorism and the robust measures taken by it, Kasuri said that Pakistan had deployed more forces along its border with Afghanistan than the number of troops the Afghan National Army, US and ISAF had collectively deployed on the Afghanistan side of the border.
“We have suffered more casualties than the US, ANA and ISAF,” he said.
He maintained that 600 Pakistani soldiers had been martyred in anti-terror operations while, in comparison, only 200 coalition troops had lost their lives in Afghanistan, adding Pakistan had done more than any other country in war on terrorism.
The foreign minister termed KabulÂ’s charges of PakistanÂ’s involvement in violence in Afghanistan as baseless and concocted. |