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Pakistani FM terms US drone strikes 'unjustified'

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, Oct 29,IRNA -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar Saturday termed the US drone attacks inside its territory as 'unjustified' saying these were counterproductive and decreased space for creating support against extremists.

'Our leadership has always condemned these in the strongest terms and unjustified,' Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told students at University of Western Australia, official media reported.

Khar, who is in Australia for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) spoke on the challenges Pakistan was facing after the 9/11 and the ways it was dealing with these.

She rejected that Pakistan was into any 'Double Game', as alleged by the BBC in the war against terror as it has sacrificed so many precious lives.

'Were we not sincere, why the terrorists and extremists would be targeting our innocent people and security forces across the country,' she said.

'We lost 30,000 people besides around 6500 belonging to the security forces, with financial losses running in billions,' she told the students. 'Still we are being blamed for terrorism.'

Talking about Pakistan's role in Afghanistan, she said it has 'gigantic' interests in its strife torn neighbour and wants to ensure it stays secure and stable as it is in the vital interest of Pakistan.

She termed the death of Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani as most damaging for the Pakistan and Afghanistan relations and termed it a 'death blow to the peace process. She said blaming Pakistan was just complicating the matters.

She however hoped that President Asif Ali Zardari in his forthcoming meeting with President Hamid Karzai in Turkey would be able to clear up the misperceptions.

Ms Khar however was very clear that Pakistan does not want to see any chaos in Afghanistan post 2014. 'That is too horrific a scenario to imagine with grave implications not only for Afghanistan, but also for Pakistan and the region as a whole.

She stressed that clarity and strategic coherence were a sine qua non for realizing peace in Afghanistan and added, 'We are therefore, working overtime to put our engagement with US back on track.' Referring to the recent visit of Secretary Clinton to Pakistan, she said it has helped move the matters forward.

'There is no reason for Afghanistan, US and Pakistan not to be working together to achieve our shared objectives,' she said. The Foreign Minister expressed the hope that the upcoming conferences in Istanbul and Bonn would achieve their objectives.

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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30636948