Pakistan tells top U.S. officials recent drone attack "vitiated" ties

Pakistan on Friday told visiting senior U.S. officials that a recent U.S. drone strike in its southwestern Balochistan province has "vitiated bilateral ties."

Ambassador Richard Olson, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and Peter Lavoy, Senior Adviser and Director for South Asian Affairs of at the U.S. National Security Council arrived in Islamabad early Friday weeks after a U.S. drone attack killed the Afghan Taliban chief at a time when efforts were underway to bring the Taliban to the negotiation table.

The U.S. delegation held talks with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry at the Foreign Ministry and held candid discussions on bilateral relations, regional security situation and the Afghan peace process in the wake of May 21 drone strike in Balochistan, the Foreign Ministry said.

"The Adviser conveyed a strong message to the United States that the 21 May drone strike was not only a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and breach of the principles of the United Nation's Charter, but has also vitiated bilateral ties," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

"It was emphasized that any future drone strike in Pakistan will be detrimental to our common desire to strengthen relations," the statement further said.

The adviser further expressed his concern that the drone strike had seriously undermined the ongoing efforts for Afghan peace and reconciliation process at a time when Pakistan, along with other Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) countries, was engaged in serious efforts to revive peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

The foreign secretary recalled that in QCG's fifth meeting on May 18 in Islamabad, it was decided that peace negotiations remained the only option for a political settlement. He emphasized that this would require collective efforts on the part of all QCG members to promote lasting peace in Afghanistan.

In response to U.S. queries on safe havens for Taliban, it was emphasized that Pakistan is already pursuing its objective of eliminating all militants and terrorists from its soil in accordance with an anti-terror policy known as the National Action Plan.

The Pakistani side asked the U.S. officials to push the Afghan government to take actions against the Pakistani militants on the Afghan side of the border.

"Pakistan also expects action by Afghan forces against TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) operatives in Afghanistan. These steps would also help to promote better relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and reduce mistrust," the statement quoted Pakistani officials as telling the U.S. officials.

Peter Lavoy said that U.S. President Obama was committed to improving relations with Pakistan as emphasized during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington in October 2015, the statement said.

He also conveyed President Obama's good wishes for the Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif's speedy recovery, who is in London after his recent open heart surgery. Endit