LAHORE/WASHINGTON - PML-N President and incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed grave concern over the recent US drone strike in Pakistan that killed Taliban No 2. US Secretary of State John Kerry, however, defended his country’s drone policy, saying it has saved many lives.
In a statement issued in Lahore, Nawaz said “The attack contradicts the policy US President Barack Obama declared of late in which he claimed to exercise care and caution while using this technology.”
“The drone attack was not only a violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity but also an action that has been declared a violation of international law and the UN Charter,” Nawaz said.
The incoming prime minister conveyed his stance to US Charge d’Affaires Richard Hoagland through his close aide, who told the US diplomat that the drone attack, coming within days of President Obama’s ‘crossroads’ speech was highly regrettable. “Particularly, as the president had spoken of initiating a new policy that would ensure greater exercise of care and caution in the use of this technology.”
Nawaz’s aide also pointed out that meaningful consultations and close cooperation between the two countries should be the desired course of action, rather than unilateral measures.
Separately, PML-N leader Ch Nisar Ali Khan said the US tried to sabotage the peace efforts in Pakistan by conducting a drone attack on elements that were cooperating in the peace process.
Talking to reporters in Islamabad, Nisar said the US pushed Pakistan into a meaningless and fruitless war by making a threatening phone call 12 years ago to pursue its own interests, and now it was again conducting drone strikes to sabotage the peace process and pursue its own interests.
Nisar expressed disappointment over the announcement of the TTP to withdraw the peace talk offer, and said now a new policy for starting new phase of talks will be devised after formation of the government.
Nisar said that the PML-N would devise a national policy on drone attacks after consulting with all political parties and stakeholders. He said that drone attacks obstruct peace efforts as they help regroup the militants. With US drone policy under increasing criticism, US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday defended the strikes by pilotless aircraft as ‘legal and effective’, stating they not only eliminated militants, but also disrupted several terror plots.
"Despite our first preference for detention and prosecution of terrorists - that's our first preference - sometimes, lethal action is necessary in order to protect US lives, and we are convinced of the legality as well as the soundness of the basis for making that determination," Kerry said in defence of Washington's drone policy.
On Wednesday, a CIA strike killed a Pakistani Taliban deputy leader, Waliur Rahman.
Kerry's statement backing the drone policy followed protests in Pakistan against the attacks, with the Foreign Ministry calling them ‘counter-productive’.
Kerry said drones have killed dozens of highly-trained Al-Qaeda commanders, trainers, bomb-makers and operatives. He said drones have disrupted plots against planes, US transit systems, European cities and American troops in Afghanistan. "Those strikes have saved lives," he added.
"Clearly our actions are effective because dozens of highly trained, skilled al Qaeda commanders, trainers, bomb makers and operatives have been taken off the battlefield," Kerry said in a joint news conference with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle.
“The fact is that plots have been disrupted before they were able to be carried out, and they would have targeted international aviation, US transit systems, European cities and our troops in Afghanistan, and those strikes have saved lives," he argued in response to a question.
"So our actions are legal. We were attacked on 9/11. Within a week the United States Congress overwhelmingly authorised the use of force. Under domestic law and international law, the United States is at war with al Qaeda and the Taliban and their associated forces. So this is a just effort, and it is a war that is waged proportionately, and in the last resort, it is in self-defence," Kerry said.
Kerry said he has personally reviewed the policy. "When I first came in here, I reviewed this policy personally because I was concerned as a Secretary of State about the conditions by which it is conducted," he said.
"And I must say to you, I was personally impressed by the level of detail, the length of time, the amazing amount of input, the extreme caution taken with respect to any decisions to employ any kind of lethality. And I think the President has done everyone a service by speaking to it in a very detailed and direct way," Kerry said.