Statement from the Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs

Mr. Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, has expressed serious concern over the statement made by Indian Defence Minister Mr. Manohar Parrikar that India will use terrorism to counter terrorism from other countries.

This statement, Mr. Aziz said, only confirms Pakistan’s apprehensions about India’s involvement in terrorism in Pakistan. It must be the first time that a Minister of an elected government openly advocates use of terrorism in another country on the pretext of preventing terrorism from that country or its non-state actors.

Pakistan, Mr. Aziz said, sincerely pursues a policy of good neighbourly relations with India. Terrorism is our common enemy and it is vital for the two countries to work together to defeat this menace, from which Pakistan has suffered much more than almost any other country.

Islamabad
23 May 2015

144/2015