WASHINGTON: Foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua has said her recent visit to the United States is continuation of bilateral engagement between Washington and Islamabad to improve strained ties.
Speaking to media, she said high-level meetings between officials of both countries were aimed to better understand each other’s viewpoint.
The foreign secretary said she presented Pakistan’s perspective on the US policy for the region keeping in view its greater interest.
Pakistan and the US wanted peace and stability in the war-torn country, Afghanistan, she said.
Underscoring the importance of bilateral engagement, Janjua said the Pak-US dialogue could help the two sides arrive at a consensual approach towards the regional issues.
She said Pakistan was fast working on a border management project, which would be completed in few years.
The secretary said effective border management would help stop cross-border movement of insurgents.
She told the media that the incumbent Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, Aizaz Chaudhry, has been asked to discharge his duties until the new ambassador takes charge.
She stressed that this important office could not be left vacant at a time when relations between the two countries were going through critical phase.
The secretary said Pakistan was doing all it can to force militants, associated with the Haqqani Network, to leave the country. Action against militants would continue, she added.
She said the country was facing multiple challenges on the frontiers with the war-torn Afghanistan and India.
Janjua said Islamabad will not take any decision under pressure from Washington. All decisions would be taken in the light of larger interest of the country, she emphasized.
Anti-Pakistan elements in Afghanistan were helping India to stoke tensions in Pakistan, she claimed, underlying the need for eliminating terrorist sanctuaries in the war-torn country, which she said were being used to sustain militancy in Pakistan.
