By IRNA,
London : President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari is due to arrive for an official visit to the UK on Tuesday amid a continuing row over comments made by Prime Minster David Cameron last week about the country’s attitudes to terrorism.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s intelligence cancelled a trip to Britain in protest, while the Foreign Office in London Monday confirmed that its envoy in Islamabad has been summoned over Cameron’s claims that Pakistan was looking both ways on terror.
In London, Pakistan’s Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said that Zardari, currently on a three day visit to France, would “forcefully take up” the comments when he holds talks with the British premier at his Chequers country residence on Friday.
“Any continuation of such a policy stance by the UK government could lead to fissures in the historically sound relationship between the two countries,” Kaira warned.
“But we hope that this will not happen because Pakistan’s stand against terrorism is based on facts evident to everyone,” he said, suggesting Cameron’s criticism was a “misperception.”
During a visit to India last week, the British prime minister said: “We should be very, very clear with Pakistan that we want to see a strong, stable and democratic Pakistan.”
“We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world.”
British authorities have tried to play down the significance of the dispute, insisting “no long-term damage” had been done, even though it led to the cancellation of a visit by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
An ISI delegation were due to hold talks with their opposite numbers from MI6 intelligence agency, MI5 security services and GCHQ, the government’s electronic eavesdropping centre in Cheltenham, western England.