Mullah Bradar to be released at appropriate time: FO

  • September 19, 2013, 7:37 pm
  • National News
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ISLAMABAD Sept 19 (Online): Pakistani government has decided in principle to release Mullah Bradar at an appropriate time.
Briefing newsmen here on Thursday‚ Foreign Office Spokesperson Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said Pakistani government has decided in principle to release Mullah Bradar at an appropriate time.
He said the purpose of releasing the Taliban detainees was to contribute to the reconciliation process. He said the Taliban detainees were released on the request of Afghan government‚ adding Pakistan will continue to take steps for the success of reconciliation process.
When asked about yesterday's incident in which Afghan security forces fired into Pakistani area‚ the spokesperson said Pakistan is deeply concerned over the incident. The charge D'affaires of Afghanistan in Islamabad was summoned to Islamabad and Pakistan's sentiments on the incident were conveyed to him. He said Pakistan has asked the Afghan government to investigate the matter and respect the existing coordination mechanisms to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future. He said Afghanistan is a brotherly neighbouring country and Pakistan desires to have cordial relations with it. He expressed the confidence that this incident will not affect the bilateral relations between the two countries.
He said Pakistan has taken steps of establishing peaceful relations with all neighbors including Afghanistan. He hoped Pakistan's sincerity will be seen and reciprocated.
The spokesperson said Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will visit New York on 23rd of this month to attend the UN General Assembly session.
Chaudhry said that during his weeklong stay in the United States‚ the prime minister will address the UN General Assembly on 27th of this month in which he will highlight Pakistan's point of view on various regional and international issues besides domestic priorities.
The Prime Minister will apprise the session about the efforts of the present government to curb the menace of terrorism besides its endeavor to bring stability to the region.
The spokesman said that Nawaz Sharif will also hold bilateral meetings with world leaders on the sideline of the General Assembly session. He will discuss various bilateral and regional issues with these leaders.
Aizaz Chaudhry said that it is expected that the Prime Minister will also attend various events during his stay in New York including high level meetings on millennium development goals‚ sustainable development and nuclear disarmament.

The spokesman said that both Islamabad and Washington are in touch for a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US President Barack Obama in the coming months. He said this meeting will not take place on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meeting due to paucity of time.
To a question‚ he said both India and Pakistan are also engaged to arrange a meeting of the Prime Ministers of the two countries in New York. He said that both the leaders are expected to consider ways to resume dialogue between Pakistan and India to resolve all outstanding issues.
To a question‚ the spokesman termed the recent visit of the Prime Minister to Turkey as successful and positive in which he held constructive talks with the Turkish leadership on various issues. He said that twelve important agreements to give boost to bilateral cooperation in various fields were also signed.