The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday summoned US Deputy Chief of Mission Andrew Schofer and handed over a demarche to him over the joint statement issued by the United States and India which called on Islamabad to take action against extremists based in Pakistan.
US President Joe Biden had laid out a red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House last week where the two countries sealed major defence and technology deals as Washington bets big on India as a counterweight to China.
In an apparent bid to use the visit to further India’s agenda against Islamabad, a joint statement issued by the two heads of state had called on Pakistan to crack down on extremists that target New Delhi.
“[The two leaders] strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, 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 statement said.
Today, the Foreign Office (FO) said, the US deputy chief of mission was summoned and Pakistan’s concerns and disappointment at the “unwarranted, one-sided and misleading references to it in the joint statement” were conveyed to him.
“It was stressed that the United States should refrain from issuing statements that may be construed as an encouragement of India’s baseless and politically motivated narrative against Pakistan,” the 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, the statement added.
In an earlier statement, the FO had said the reference to Pakistan in the statement was “contrary to diplomatic norms and has political overtones”.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have also criticised the joint statement.
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