Lahore: The Pakistan Government is ‘not taking dictation from anyone’ on launching a military operation in North Waziristan, but will instead work out a strategy on the subject on the basis of its assessment of the on-ground situation, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.
“We are not taking dictation from anyone. We’ll see whether such an operation is required”, The Nation quoted Gilani, as saying while answering telephonic questions from Waqt TV viewers in his regular monthly programme 'Prime Minister On Line'.
He said that military action was not the solution of the problem, and reiterated his three-D policy - dialogue, development and deterrence - to deal with militants and extremists.
The Prime Minister repeated his talks’ offer to militants in tribal areas, provided “they lay down arms and surrender to respective political agents”.
He said that those desirous of talks with the government should stop challenging the writ of the government, which he said would take on terrorists and make Pakistan a terrorist-free state.
Following the recent five-hour visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen to Islamabad, newspapers have been publishing speculative reports on the North Waziristan offensive issue, with some saying that the operation would be launched soon.
Gilani also said that his government had told the US that unilateral raids inside Pakistani territory- like the May 02 raid in Abbottabad- would not be acceptable.
“There has been some decline in (the number of drone) attacks”, he said, implying that the protests had yielded some results.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, June 02, 2011, 14:44