The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday summoned US Deputy Chief of Mission Andrew Schofer and issued a demarche to him over the joint statement issued by the United States and India which called on Islamabad to take action against extremists based in Pakistan.
In an apparent bid to use the visit to further India’s agenda against Islamabad, a joint statement issued by the two heads of state had called on Pakistan to crack down on extremists that target New Delhi.
The Foreign Office (FO) on Monday said, the US deputy chief of mission was summoned and Pakistan’s concerns and disappointment at the “unwarranted, one-sided and misleading references to it in the joint statement” were conveyed to him.
“It was stressed that the United States should refrain from issuing statements that may be construed as an encouragement of India’s baseless and politically motivated narrative against Pakistan,” the FO statement said.
It was also emphasised that counter-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and US was progressing well and that an enabling environment centred around “trust and understanding” was imperative to further solidify Pakistan-US ties, the statement added.
