Pakistan says India-US statement violates diplomatic norms

Pakistan on Thursday took "strong exception to the unwarranted reference" against it in the joint statement issued following the 2+2 India-US dialogue in New Delhi last week.

The statement issued after the US Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defence met their Indian counterparts called upon Pakistan to ensure that its territory was not used to launch terror attacks on other countries.

At the weekly news briefing here on Thursday, Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said: "Pakistan rejects the baseless allegations. We have also conveyed our position to the US side.

"Mentioning a 'third country' with unsubstantiated accusations in a formal outcome document is inconsistent with established diplomatic norms.

"What is more ironic is that many other thorny issues involving the 'third country' were avoided in the joint statement by the Indian side," the spokesperson said.

He added that the trial of the Pakistanis said to be involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack was ongoing in an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan and "the judicial process shall take its course".

Faisal asked the US to also focus similarly on what he said was "Indian state terrorism" in Jammu and Kashmir.

Responding to a question, Faisal said: "Pakistan is always ready for talks with India for resolution of all outstanding disputes and both the countries are in contact with each other through Track II diplomacy."

--IANS

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