Pakistan on Thursday rejected US intelligence assessment report as "counterproductive" and "harmful" for regional peace efforts, days after America's top spymaster said that militant groups supported by Islamabad will continue to conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan.
Appearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on their worldwide threat assessment, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on Tuesday said Pakistan's "narrow approach to counterterrorism cooperation-using some groups as policy tools and confronting only the militant groups that directly threaten Pakistan-almost certainly will frustrate US counterterrorism efforts against the Taliban."
Commenting on Coats' remarks, Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal told the media here that Pakistan took strong exception to the allegations in Coats' report.
"We have raised the issue with the US side that such controversial statements will be counterproductive and have the potential to adversely affect the peace and stability of the region," he said.
He said Pakistan played an exemplary role in war against terrorism rendering immense sacrifices in men and material.
Faisal said Pakistan was playing its constructive role for stabilising the region and its efforts were being highly acknowledged by the US leadership.
The spokesperson said that Pakistan facilitated the Afghan peace process and dialogue with the Taliban on the request of US and Afghanistan.
He reiterated that it was a shared responsibility to bring peace in the region and warned that certain elements wanted to perpetual conflict in the region as it served their interests.
Faisal also said Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced to keep the Torkham border with Afghanistan open for 24 hours which would help to promote bilateral trade and people to people contacts with Afghanistan.
To a question, he said Afghanistan should address Pakistan's concerns regarding use of its soil for terrorist attacks.
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