Gilani lashes out at Cameron's stance

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani



Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136741§ionid=351020401


Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has dismissed remarks by his British counterpart that Islamabad is guilty of exporting terrorism.

In an address to Pakistan's Senate on Thursday, Gilani noted that his government will take up the issue with Britain via diplomatic channels.

He also sharply criticized David Cameron's remarks questioning Pakistan's sincerity in the war on terror, saying that US-led NATO forces could not bring peace in Afghanistan. The prime minister pointed out that the sacrifices of Pakistani armed forces personnel in war-battered Afghanistan are much greater than those of the multinational force.

"They should assist for capacity building of our law enforcement agencies. Such a criticism would cast negative impact on war on terror," Gilani said.

Cameron risked provoking a diplomatic row with Pakistan on Wednesday when he came close to accusing Islamabad of exporting terrorism.

“We should be very, very clear with Pakistan that we want to see a strong, stable and democratic Pakistan," Cameron said.

“We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world," Cameron said in a speech to Indian business leaders in Bangalore, India.

In the past, Britain had warned against the threat of terrorism that emanates from Pakistan. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown once said that the bulk of the threat of terrorism to Britain came out of Pakistan's restive tribal regions near the Afghan border.