Draft legislation in US Senate `unwarranted’, `inconsistent’: Pakistan

Pakistan on Wednesday described the draft legislation introduced in the US Senate as “completely unwarranted”, and “inconsistent with the spirit of Pakistan-U.S. cooperation” in Afghanistan since 2001.

“We see that a debate is underway in Washington both in the media and on Capitol Hill to reflect on and examine the circumstances leading to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan,” said Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar in response to media queries about draft bill introduced by some U.S. Senators.

He said, “The draft legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate by a group of Senate Republicans seems to be a reaction to this debate.”

“The legislation includes references to Pakistan that are completely unwarranted. We find all such references inconsistent with the spirit of Pakistan-U.S. cooperation on Afghanistan since 2001, including facilitation of the Afghan peace process and during the recent evacuations of American and other nationals from Afghanistan,” the Spokesperson stressed.

He said that Pakistan had consistently maintained that there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.

Similarly, a coercive approach will not work and the only way to achieve long term sustainable peace in Afghanistan was through engagement and dialogue, he added.

Moreover, the Spokesperson said that sustained security cooperation between Pakistan and the United States would remain critical in dealing with any future terrorist threat in the region.

“Such proposed legislative measures are, therefore, uncalled for and counterproductive,” he maintained.