Cameron's statement baseless, childish: FO

ISLAMABAD The Foreign Office finally assailed David Cameron for his irresponsible and childish statement that he made against Pakistan on Wednesday during his visit to India. These remarks, coming on the heels of the three very successful high-level visits from Britain to Pakistan, are surprising, to say the least, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said commenting on British Prime Minister David Camerons remarks. Strongly rejecting the allegations levelled against Pakistan - a frontline state in the war against terrorism, Qureshi said that the recent visits of Britains Secretary International Development, Foreign Secretary and Chairperson of Conservative Party to Pakistan had provided useful opportunities for the detailed discussions on all issues of mutual interest between Pakistan and Britain, including counter terrorism. However, he wondered as what made David Cameron to give such a controversial statement. Subsequently, the Foreign Office went on to say that Camerons statement was unrealistic. Obviously we are saddened by Prime Minister Camerons remarks in Bangalore to an Indian audience. These remarks evidently lack objectivity and are contrary to facts on the ground, the spokesperson from FO remarked. However, the spokesperson added swiftly that the remarks had been prompted by the leaks on WikiLeaks website. However, he did not tell the journalists if David Cameron had told Pakistan that WikiLeaks reports made him utter such venomous statement against the country. He maintained that one could never draw right conclusions from baseless and skewed reports. The spokesperson also asked journalists to abstain from highlighting such baseless reports. I would say that it is important that we do not create unnecessary hype around these reports and get distracted. The world knows very well how Pakistan is contributing in the ongoing fight against terrorism and we will continue doing that because it is also in our interest. When asked to comment on Pakistans double standard as it was seeking a clarification from Afghanistan against Karzais remarks but not from Cameron for his remarks, the spokesperson replied there were no double standards. We have seen remarks made by the British Prime Minister and we see the context in the sense that those were based on WikiLeaks reports. Hence, we have expressed our sadness over these remarks, which have been made in India. As far as the reported remarks by President Karzai and the earlier remarks by Spanta are concerned, we found these incomprehensible given the fact that we all know well that during the last two years Pakistan and Afghanistan have been cooperating very closely with each other against terrorism and we do not see any reason as to why these remarks should have been made, he said. Abdul-Basit said, I said earlier these remarks are based on the reports or the documents which themselves are based on raw intelligence and as a matter of fact on disinformation. So you cannot draw right conclusions from misguided reports. Beyond that as far as our contributions, our efforts against terrorism are concerned, those are acknowledged worldwide. The spokesperson said that the US National Security Adviser, on the disclosure of the documents on Wikileaks, had acknowledged Pakistans contributions in countering terrorism. To a question, Abdul-Basit said there had been no backdoor diplomacy with India. We have nevertheless received a condolence message from the Indian External Affairs Minister, S.M. Krishna to our Foreign Minister expressing deep condolences over the plane crash yesterday, he said. When asked to comment on the accusations made by Hillary Clinton, Wikileaks, Cameron and Karzai, Admiral Mike Mullen that Osama was hiding in Pakistan, the spokesperson said that such accusations were being made for years. The facts are that Pakistan has been making all-out efforts against terrorism and we have achieved successes. Our record speaks for itself, he said. The spokesperson said that the malicious campaigns against Pakistan and its security agencies particularly ISI, could not belittle the countrys achievements against militancy and violent extremism. There are forces that would like to continue with this malicious campaign against Pakistan. But as far as the Western leadership is concerned, they do acknowledge the work Pakistan is doing and doing so under very trying and challenging circumstances, he added. Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said on Thursday that President Zardari would visit France from August 1 to 3. This would be the Presidents second important engagement with the French leadership following his visit to Paris in May last year. The President would exchange views on bilateral, regional and global issues with the French leadership and convey Pakistans interest in expanding relations in economic, trade, investment, science and technology and other cultural fields.

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