LAHORE: Information Minister Pervez Rashid said on Saturday that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led federal government is using diplomatic channels to resolve the issue of drone attacks as it has taken up this matter at the United Nations‚ with US administration and other international platforms.
Talking to media representatives in Lahore, the information minister said that Pakistan is a democratic country where everyone has right to favour or oppose any government policy.
Rashid made these remarks with reference to sit-in protest being staged by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies on Peshawar’s Rind Road against US drone strikes and to block NATO supply routes going through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The interior minister criticized the protest of the PTI and termed it a dual faced policy on the issue of the US drone attacks in Pakistan.
Rasheed said that on one side‚ the PTI as a party is to protest against the drone attacks while its provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will remain aloof.
The federal interior minister said that drone attacks as well foreign nationals are also not acceptable as they are a challenge for our peace and sovereignty.
Earlier, the Foreign Office said in a statement that Pakistan calls upon the United States to immediately stop drone strikes on its territory, adding that drone strikes violate Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Foreign Office said these strikes have a negative impact on efforts to pursue the consensus achieved in all parties conference to explore the dialogue process to bring peace and stability in Pakistan and the region.
