Sartaj rejects impression Pakistan being isolated internationally  

KARACHI: Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj aziz has rejected the impression that Pakistan is facing international isolation, saying that it stands on the right side keeping in view the kind of alliances being forged in the world today.

In an interview to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio service, Sartaj Aziz said, “Pakistan is standing at a right place in new international grouping and the perception that it is being isolated internationally is wrong.”

Commenting on US Secretary of State John Kerry's recent statements in India, Sartaj Aziz denied that those statements were defaming Pakistan. While in India, Kerry would state something, yet in Pakistan his statement would be different from what he would have said during his visit to New Delhi, he said.

The advisor categorically said that Pakistan has carried out operations against all terrorists, including Haqqani network, during Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

"We achieved in three years in the war on terror, what the no one in world could," he said, noting that Pakistan imposed restrictions on Hafiz Saeed and Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi.

He, however, lamented that no one in the world including the United States condemned Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir. "It is disappointing to see the world only expressing concerns over brutalities in Kashmir, instead of denouncing them," he regretted.

"The Kashmir issue is to be resolved by the people of Kashmir, not the world, and that those who can willingly shed their blood for a just cause can't be subdued by any power," he asserted.

Replying to a question, Sartaj Aziz said the United States is changing its policy in order to check increasing influence of China in the world, and as India fits more in that policy; therefore, Washington and New Delhi are coming closer.