ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday said the issue of terrorism was an issue of concern for Pakistan as it had done most in addressing it.
“We have defeated it (terrorism),” the prime minister said while talking a group of media representatives from international outlets during an interview.
The prime minister asked the media persons to visit Miran Shah – the administrative headquarters of the war-stricken North Waziristan agency – and see themselves how Pakistan’s military had cleared the area by offering great sacrifices in the war against terror.
Khaqan Abbasi said Pakistan had suffered massively due to instability in Afghanistan but it was committed for a peaceful resolution of the Afghan issue.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said Pakistan was more committed than any other country in the region for peaceful resolution of the Afghan issue which should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.
The prime minister reiterated that Pakistan was open to close cooperation as Pak-Afghan ties were decades old and could not be defined on the basis of one issue.
Earlier in an interview with Reuters news agency, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi stressed the need for Pakistan-US close cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
The prime minister said anything that degraded Pakistan’s efforts in war on terror would be counterproductive. He said it was unfair to blame Pakistan for all the troubles in Afghanistan.
Abbasi urged the United States to show more appreciation for Pakistan’s losses in war on terror and its role in hosting 3.5 million Afghan refugees.
