'Pakistan resolved to extirpate terrorism once and for all'

Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit on Wednesday asserted his country's firm resolve to "extirpate" terrorism "once and for all" and called for maintaining "tranquillity" on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

"It's (terrorism) a huge problem. It will take some time and we are, this time around, resolved to extirpate this menace for once and for all. Because we can't afford to live with this anymore.

"We are very clear as to what we are doing and we will hopefully see tangible results over the next six months to one year," Basit said at an interactive session at the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies here.

He, however, said there was a need to have tranquillity on working boundaries and the LoC to aid in fighting terrorism.

"What we expect from our regional friends and neighbours is not to complicate the situation. As we would like to address this challenge, we would also like to have some tranquillity on the Line of Control, on the working boundaries because if there are problems on the LoC, the working boundaries, that creates problem for us, that deflects the attention away from main challenge-terrorism," Basit said.

He was responding to a question by an audience member on recent comments by former Pakistan diplomat Husain Haqqani on the country's stance towards terrorism.

"If we are all out against terrorists without any distinction, we are not doing a favour to you, to Afghanistan, US, to France or to the UK... that we are doing purely in our own interest. We have now realised how terrorism has held us back and has not allowed us to realise our economic potential.

"So, if today we are all out against terrorism it is not because we are favouring any other country... we are doing it purely in our own interest," Basit said, adding that Haqqani was entitled to his views.

The envoy also cautioned against making "premature" conclusions on Pakistan's operations against militants.

"And then we can't address this issue overnight. Militants or troublemakers are not confined to only tribal areas. They have also found refuge in other areas particularly Karachi and other parts of the country. We still have close to three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

"So it is a very difficult challenge for us and if you jump the gun and draw a premature conclusion about our operation against militants, against terrorists, you are bound infer wrongly," he added.