He said that President Asif Ali Zardari would announce the next strategy after a thorough process of consultation and after taking the party and its CEC into confidence.
He said that government had opted for the inquiry by the UN to ensure impartiality and added that the criminal investigations thus conducted would have more weight. It would be more credible at national and international levels, he added.
The FM said that the martyrdom of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was not merely a loss for the party but for Pakistan, the region and the whole world because she was a leader of international stature.
Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that President Asif Ali Zardari and the Bhutto family waited patiently because they wanted to have truth behind the tragedy unveiled.
To a question, he said that he does not want to repeat the excerpts from the UN Commission’s Report which indicate poor security arrangements made by the then government and that the process of investigation was impeded.
The Foreign Minister said that the whole world has expressed confidence on Pakistan’s nuclear programme at the Nuclear Safety Summit in Washington and doubts which used to be expressed by some elements have died their own death. It shows that all doubts and stories were meaningless, he added.
He said that US President Barack Obama himself expressed confidence over Pakistan nuclear programme stating that its security measures were second to none.
The FM said that he himself accompanied Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani to Washington to attend the nuclear safety summit and our experts’ team headed by Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Masud Khan presented Pakistan’s case effectively.
He said that Pakistan informed the summit that was attended by heads of 45 countries that our three-layered security system meets international standards and was foolproof. The FM added that Pakistan also made it clear that its export control regime and regulatory framework were also in accordance with the international standards and no one raised objection on it during the summit.
Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the most important was the statement of US President at the summit in which he stated in his concluding remarks: “We recognize the right of the developing countries to civil nuclear technology.”
To a question, the FM said that this government raised the issue of civil nuclear technology with the US. He, however, added that India did not secure the civil nuclear technology agreement with the US overnight.
He said that the PM also met with the US President, secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Senator John Kerry and the IMF officials.
During the meeting with the IMF officials, the PM said that Pakistan was battling power crisis and it was not possible for the government to raise power tariff further in such circumstances. He added that PM told the IMF officials that the burden would be beyond the capacity of the people of Pakistan.
We felt a sense of understanding during the talks and Pakistan government hopes that the next IMF tranche would be released after the IMF board meeting to be held on May 3-4, the foreign minister added.
