By NNN-APP,
Islamabad : Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said that Pakistan is fighting war against terror in its own interest and strongly rejected the notion that it was being carried out on any other country’s behest.
“We are not mercenaries or service providers either, and nobody has to judge our performance,” the Prime Minister said in an interview with BBC in London before concluding his four-day official visit to the United Kingdom and Germany.
“One thing I tell you, this is our own war and we are fighting it for the interest of our own country,” he categorically added.
On US President Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan war strategy, the Prime Minister said he wanted “more clarity” from Americans in this regard before his country could take action on it.
Gilani appreciated Obama’s intentions about the security and prosperity of Pakistan, however said his government was studying the US plan to send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan and also examining its implications on Pakistan.
“We would likely to see what precisely would be [the policy’s] impact on Pakistan,” he said. He said Pakistan had very close cooperation on defence and intelligence side with the United States, and hoped that “it would be taken care of.”
The Prime Minister said he had apprehensions that the surge of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan’s Helmand province would result into militants’ influx to Balochistan province. “But one thing is clear, we cannot afford losing, because it is our own war and a stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan,” he stressed. He reiterated that Pakistan had the resolve to fight terrorism because failing in Afghanistan would have bad impact on Pakistan.
Gilani said his government was following the exit policy in Pakistan as he believed that military actions were not solution to the problems. He said whenever writ of the government is challenged, there arises a need to take military action in Pakistan.
“But as far as Afghanistan is concerned, yes there has to be an exit strategy,” the Prime Minister said, while appreciating the building of institutions in Afghanistan as a “positive thing”.
When asked why Pakistan did not go after Mullah Omar, Gilani said, “If any credible and actionable information will be passed to Pakistan, we are ready to act.”
He mentioned the “excellent intelligence cooperation” with the United States which he said would greatly help in capturing the militants.
About the claims of the US and UK regarding presence of Al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, the Prime Minister said if there was some credible information, Prime Minister Gordon Brown should have shared with him during the meeting at 10 Downing Street. He mentioned while addressing joint press conference, the same question was asked to Brown and the answer was not the same.
However, he said, “We want to work together. We want more intelligence sharing with UK and with US and I am sure when we will be working together, we can resolve the issue.”
When asked about US’ categorical statements that Osama bin Laden and Aimen Al-Zawahri were inside Pakistan, Gilani said, “They never ever passed any credible information [on this] to Pakistan.”
He said it was not the question of whose intelligence was right, however said he only had the domestic information and intelligence to depend upon.
“I can depend only on my intelligence. If they have some information, they should share with us,” he said.