Border raids issue to be resolved diplomatically: PM

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that President Asif Ali Zardari will take up the issue of respect for Pakistan’s sovereignty with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and later this month with US President George W Bush. The Prime Minister said this while responding to journalists’ questions at a Saudi Iftar reception here on Monday.
The Prime Minster assured that the issue of incursion by the US and NATO jets into tribal areas would be resolved diplomatically. “We are a nuclear state and cannot act irresponsibly. I assure you that diplomatically we will convince them to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty.”
The Prime Minister said President Zardari would raise the issue of respect for the country’s sovereignty with Gordon Brown and again with President Bush when he would travel to the US for UN General Assembly meeting. “A lot of countries are supporting Pakistan’s point of view and at the same time the US has the same views,” Gilani added.
He said Pakistan was a very respected nation and a nuclear power, therefore, it had to act wisely and gracefully. He said he asked the National Security Advisor Mehmood Ali Durrani to write a letter to his US counterpart about Pakistan’s concerns over its sovereignty and integrity. “There is a unanimity of views (between Pakistan and US) and we’ll soon be able to resolve all the issues.”
He recalled his meeting with President Bush in which the latter had said that the US respected Pakistan’s sovereignty.
He categorically said that it was a wrong perception that the government and the army didn’t have unanimity of views on issues of national importance. “The army is following the policy of the democratic government,” he added.