Islamabad: Pakistan Tuesday slammed Afghan
National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta for alleging that the country and its military intelligence were linked to terrorists, saying it would not be "distracted by such unfair
remarks".
Reacting to the allegations made by Spanta in an op-ed
in The Washington Post yesterday, Foreign Office spokesman
Abdul Basit said the piece "contained nothing new but a rehash
of hackneyed and baseless allegations against Pakistan and its
security agencies".
Spanta had accused Pakistan of harbouring Taliban and
al-Qaeda militants. Pakistan "continues to provide sanctuary
and support to the (Taliban`s) Quetta Shura, the Haqqani
network, the Hekmatyar group and al-Qaeda," he wrote.
"Unfortunately, the military-intelligence
establishment of one of our neighbours still regards
Afghanistan as its sphere of influence," Spanta wrote.
These were Spanta`s "personal views and were not in
consonance with the excellent mutual understanding and
cooperation that existed between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the ongoing fight against terrorism", Basit said.
"Pakistan will not be distracted by such unfair
remarks, and will continue working with Afghanistan and the
international community to eliminate militancy and terrorism,"
he said.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have recognised "how
imperative it was to defeat the pernicious evil of terrorism
for achieving stability and prosperity in our region", the Spokesman said.
The two countries have been engaged in a war of words
on the Pakistani military establishment`s alleged links with
the Taliban and other militant groups.
PTI
