Islamabad: Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned US Deputy Chief of Mission Andrew Schofer and handed over demarche to him over joint statement issued by United States and India which called on Islamabad to take action against extremists based in Pakistan.

US President Joe Biden had laid out red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at White House last week where two countries sealed major defence and technology deals as Washington bets big on India as counterweight to China. In an apparent bid to use visit to further India’s agenda against Islamabad, joint statement issued by two heads of state had called on Pakistan to crack down on extremists that target New Delhi.

“[Two leaders] strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks,” statement said. Today, Foreign Office said, US Deputy Chief of mission was summoned and Pakistan’s concerns and disappointment at “Unwarranted, one-sided and misleading references to it in joint statement” were conveyed to him.

“It was stressed that United States should refrain from issuing statements that may be construed as an encouragement of India’s baseless and politically motivated narrative against Pakistan,” FO statement said. It was also emphasised that counter-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and US was progressing well and that an enabling environment centred around “Trust and understanding” was imperative to further solidify Pakistan-US ties, statement added.

Published in The Daily National Courier, June, 27 2023

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