Pakistan lodges Protest with US Over Joint Statement With India
In a formal protest issued to the US Deputy Chief of Mission on Monday evening, Pakistan has expressed its concerns and disappointment at the joint statement issued by the US and India on June 22, which made references to Pakistan's involvement in cross-border terrorism. The statement was issued in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US, where he and President Joe Biden called on Pakistan to take action against the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai and 2016 Pathankot attacks.
In a formal protest issued to the US Deputy Chief of Mission on Monday evening, Pakistan has expressed its concerns and disappointment at the joint statement issued by the US and India on June 22, which made references to Pakistan's involvement in cross-border terrorism. The statement was issued in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US, where he and President Joe Biden called on Pakistan to take action against the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai and 2016 Pathankot attacks. In response to the joint statement, Prime Minister Imran Khan stated that Pakistan had been reduced to a “promoter of cross-border terrorism in India”, while the US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the US would continue to work with Pakistan to counter mutual terrorist threats.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries was progressing well, and that an environment of trust and understanding was essential to strengthen the Pakistan-US ties. The Foreign Office also stated that their demarche issued to the US Deputy Chief of Mission was to convey their concerns and disappointment at the “unwarranted, one-sided and misleading references to it” in the joint statement.
Both President Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed their commitment to take concerted action against all UN-listed terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizb-ul-Mujhahideen. They had also condemned the 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. The joint statement issued by the US and India has led to a heightened sense of tension in the region.
It is important that both India and Pakistan prioritize dialogue and diplomacy in order to resolve their differences, and that both the US and international community continue to support efforts to de-escalate tensions and work towards building trust and understanding between the two countries.
