Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday asserted that the ISI chief would never be asked to appear before a United States court. He was responding to concerns expressed in the National Assembly about reports suggesting that a U.S. court had issues summons to ISI chief Shuja Pasha and others in a lawsuit filed by relatives of two Americans killed in the Mumbai terror attack.
Saying the ISI was an extremely important and sensitive organisation, Mr. Gilani also said if a decision needed to be taken, it would be done through consensus. Meanwhile, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said the Ministry had not seen the summons and so it would be premature to comment, and that there was nothing to add after the Prime Minister had spoken.
As for U.S. concerns about the Pakistan-China civil nuclear deal, Mr. Basit said this was for peaceful purposes and “in accordance with our international obligations and under IEAE safeguards”. Maintaining that any objection to this co-operation was unwarranted, he added the double standards in civil nuclear energy cooperation were evident when it came to India. “Hence Pakistan has always maintained that we should work to evolve a criteria-based approach rather than creating unhelpful exemptions.”
About the Afghanistan-Pakistan annual review unveiled by the U.S. last week, the spokesman noted that “whatever has been shared with us does give us some comfort that due emphasis will now be placed on development and reconciliation aspects”. Stating that Pakistan has always maintained that use of force alone cannot bring about peace and stability in Afghanistan, he added that Islamabad would continue supporting Afghanistan-led efforts.
