Pakistan to take steps to mitigate threat of Daesh's presence in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria on Thursday said it would take all necessary measures, including effective border control and management, to mitigate the threat emanating from presence of Daesh in Afghanistan.    

“There are swathes of ungoverned territories in Afghanistan and Daesh and other terrorist outfits are gaining grounds there,” he said in his weekly news briefing in Islamabad.

The spokesman rejected insinuations of Indian External Affairs Minister against Pakistan and said our sacrifices and losses in the war against terror were unmatched.

He said by levelling baseless allegations, India was trying to hide its own hands in state-sponsored terrorism in Occupied Kashmir.

To a question, he said Pakistan wanted to have sustained, meaningful and result-oriented dialogue with India that addressed all issues particularly in the Jammu and Kashmir.

Nafees Zakaria said peace in the region was not possible without resolving the Kashmir dispute.

The spokesman said visiting Acting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice Wells had a meeting with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in Islamabad. The two sides reviewed gamut of bilateral relations.

He said the visit was taking place in the backdrop of US policy review on Afghanistan and the region and it provided an important opportunity to Pakistan to share its perspective on Afghanistan and broader issues relating to this region.

He said latest human rights situation in Occupied Kashmir also came under discussion.