ISLAMABAD: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday while paying tribute to the soldiers of Pakistan armed forces martyred by firing from across the Afghan border in North Waziristan and those in Balochistan, said it was time to move forward cautiously and prudently without giving any knee-jerk reaction.

“At this time, we have to move forward very prudently. Surely, there will be some forces wanting Pakistan to react and make abrupt decisions out of emotions. This is not the time to make emotional decisions,” the foreign minister said talking to a private television channel.

He was responding to a question by the news anchor as to whether Pakistan should go for any hot pursuit in reaction to the attacks from across the border inside its territory.

The foreign minister said the whole nation was paying tribute to the soldiers who had laid down their lives in two separate incidents and that such cowardly attacks could not deter the national resolve against terrorism.

Asked whether the attacks had anything to do with the regional events like Prime Minister Imran Khan’s successful visit to the US, the ICJ decision on Kulbhushan Jadhav and peace dialogue in Afghanistan, the foreign minister said, “You cannot rule out anything.”

“We have not to level allegations in unnecessary haste too. We are a responsible nation. We go into details of the matter and investigate. We don’t blame the people baselessly,” Qureshi remarked.   He said the policy (of not levelling baseless allegations) had been the distinction of Pakistan that had also been lauded by the world. The world had been examining and appreciating Pakistan’s prudent policy of restraint, he added.

To a question about any discussion with the Afghan leadership so far to probe into the attack, the foreign minister said surely, the two countries had military level cooperation and the national security institutions would be in contact or could make contact to discuss the matter.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2019

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