Pakistan to protest US drone attacks at UN

Pakistan will lodge a formal protest in the U.N. General Assembly session next month over the U.S. drone attacks in the country, an official said.

The U.S. attacks violate Pakistan’s sovereignty and international laws, Sartaj Aziz, adviser on foreign affairs, said in a statement in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, Friday, reported Xinhua.

“A breakthrough is expected on the issue of U.S. drone strikes in the coming months,” he said.

The U.S. routinely fires missiles into the Waziristan tribal region to target militants accused of crossing into Afghanistan for attacks on foreign and Afghan forces.

Mr. Aziz said Pakistani leaders in their forthcoming meetings with U.S. authorities will ask them to stop the drone strikes as they were counter-productive.

He added that U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had supported Pakistan’s stance on the issue.

Mr. Aziz said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was expected to hold a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in New York next month.

On Pakistan’s relation with the U.S., Mr. Aziz said Washington only insisted on cordial relations when they wanted something and returned a cold response when the purpose was fulfilled.

“Our government has successfully made U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry realise that Pakistan-U.S. relations should not be seen through the Afghanistan lens,” he said.

Pakistan and the U.S. have agreed to resume the strategic dialogue early next year, he said.