US-Pakistan ties should be based on mutual respect: Ambassador

WASHINGTON, April 7 (APP):Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Chaudhry has said that relations between Islamabad and Washington should be based on mutual respect and trust to achieve the common goals of defeating terrorism, and securing peace and stability in Afghanistan.
He made these remarks while speaking with Pakistani and US media at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington to highlight the ongoing Indian atrocities in the occupied Kashmir on the occasion of the Kashmir Solidarity Day. He was responding to questions about the current state of Pak-US relations.
Emphasizing the need for relations based on mutual respect, Ambassador Chaudhry said apprehensions and concerns would not serve the purpose because it would be counterproductive for both Pakistan and the United States with regard to counter-terrorism operations, and quest for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
He expressed Pakistan’s firm commitment not to allow its soil to be used against any country and said that it expected others to reciprocate.
Ambassador Chaudhry said that Pakistan supported all efforts for reconciliation to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan. He said that there was no military solution to the Afghan problem and all efforts should be directed towards a comprehensive “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” political solution.
Responding to the question related to Haqqanis, Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry said Pakistan’s message to the Haqqanis and Talibans was very clear. Talibans and Haqqanis were Afghanis and they should become part of the political mainstream in Afghanistan, he added.
Speaking about the recent escalation in violence in the occupied Kashmir by Indian occupation forces especially since April 1, when Indian forces killed 20 Kashmiri youth in southern Kashmir, he said that Indian forces had unleashed a new reign of terror resulting in extra-judicial killings, pre-dawn attacks and fake encounters.
He said that civilian protests against the killing of innocent Kashmiri youth had been met with brutal force by Indian forces. Among other, draconian measures, Indian forces had also used pellets guns blinding innocent protestors like in 2016, he added.
Ambassador Chaudhry said that Pakistan strongly condemned the horrific draconian steps and urged the international community, including the United States, to break its silence on the recent spate of violence in the Indian occupied Kashmir.