India must set own house in order: Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office of Pakistan on Thursday advised India to set their own house in order rather than dishing the dirt at Pakistan.

In the weekly media briefing, the Foreign Office spokesman said levelling baseless accusations against Pakistan would not serve any purpose. The spokesman admitted officially for the first time that the US had cut off Pakistan from the International Military Education and Training (IMET) programme. “The US has provided training to Pakistan military officials under a specific program for the last many years. However, as of January this year all security assistance to Pakistan was suspended. The IMET programme for Pakistani officers was also affected by this decision. Both countries are engaged to resolve all issues,” he said.

Turning to Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the spokesman once again pointed to the agenda pending with the UN Security Council. “The solution as per the UN Security Council resolutions is the plebiscite that is to be held under the auspices of the United Nations to ascertain the wishes of Kashmiri people. The issue was taken to the UN Security Council by the founding fathers of India, and India has to honour the commitments made by them,” he said.

Talking about the postponed Saarc Summit the spokesman said, “We believe the Saarc Summit is long delayed. Such delays do not reflect well on member states. Pakistan is ready to hold the Summit at the earliest and maintains that its expedited convening is essential so that things can progress and move forward”. However, he parried a query whether the Foreign Office was taken into confidence when the Indian high commissioner paid a courtesy call on Imran Khan.