‘No apologies to Kabul when our troops bleed’

Minister says voluntary, dignified repatriation of
three million Afghan refugees to be ensured;
claims Sartaj handling foreign policy ‘dynamically’

ISLAMABAD: Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch on Tuesday said it was unacceptable to Pakistan to collect the bodies of its soldiers and apologise to Afghanistan.

Winding up a debate on the foreign policy in the National Assembly, he said negotiations were going on with Afghanistan and expressed the hope that the border issue would be resolved soon.

He said Pakistan was ready to remove the reservations of Afghanistan but if they wanted to have ties as dictated by India, it would not be acceptable.“Afghanistan has approached us and things are being discussed, but if it wants to have relations with Pakistan as dictated by India, it is not acceptable,” he maintained.

He said the Pak-Afghan border was closed to stop the movement of terrorists.He said Afghan and Indian intelligence agencies were supporting the Ahrar terror group for carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan.

He said Afghanistan had boycotted the Saarc Summit in Pakistan on Indian dictation and sent its ambassador to the ECO Summit.The minister said Pakistan was also ready to provide port, health and other facilities to Afghanistan.

He said Pakistan was ready to take steps to have better relations with Afghanistan but on an equal basis.He pointed out that unfortunately relations with Afghanistan had never been good, except three to four years, as Afghanistan was following pro-India policies.

The minister said the government had tried to remove the reservations of Afghanistan in the past and for this purpose the Afghan leadership was also given briefings.He said Pakistan was still playing host to three million Afghan refugees and added Afghan refugees and added that their voluntary and dignified repatriation will be ensured.

Abdul Qadir Baloch said foreign policy objectives were being pursued on the basis of equality. He said Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had been handling foreign policy matters in a dynamic manner and he also enjoyed the status of a federal minister.

He pointed out that the opposition members had passed negative remarks about Pakistan's relations with Afghanistan and India only which means that Pakistan has good relations with other countries particularly Islamic countries. He asked the legislators to give their suggestions and the government would accommodate them for improving the foreign policy.