Pakistan looks forward to positive engagements with US

Islamabad: Pakistan said Thursday it was looking forward to positive engagements with the United States at the leadership level. Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal was responding to the queries of media persons at his weekly news briefing in Islamabad on the statement made by US President Donald Trump that he looked forward to meet the new Pakistani leadership. The spokesperson said President Donald Trump’s remarks were indeed a departure from his January I, 2018 tweet. When asked about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the spokesperson said Pakistan, being immediate neighbour of Afghanistan, is interested that any development in that country may leads to peace and stability in the region. Dr Faisal said that on the request of the US and Afghan government, Pakistan was facilitating direct peace talks between Washington and Taliban. To a question, the spokesperson said Afghanistan should not allow any terrorist group or individual to use its territory against Pakistan.About India, the spokesperson said Pakistan has always expressed its steadfastness towards that end.  However, it cannot do anything if India is not ready to come to the table of negotiations. On the shooting down of two Indian quadcopters by Pakistani forces, Dr Muhammad Faisal strongly condemned the Indian violations on the Line of Control saying our forces effectively responded to the Indian aggression. He said any misadventure by India will be responded in a befitting manner. The Spokesperson once again rejected the Indian notion that they carried out surgical strikes inside Pakistan. He said Pakistan’s desire for peace should be not construed as its weakness.