Thaindian News

Islamabad, Mar 22(ANI): Pakistan has issued a veiled disapproval of the air strikes over Libya by foreign forces, and said that a “peaceful political solution” has to be evolved.

Pakistan stopped short of ‘condemning’ these air strikes, but pointed out that Libya’s ’sovereignty, independence and unity’ has to be respected.

“Pakistan is following, with serious concern, the developments in Libya in the wake of the military strikes. The loss of precious human lives is indeed regrettable,” Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar said in a statement following a meeting at the Foreign Office.

“Peaceful political solution needs to be evolved by the Libyan people themselves in the spirit of mutual accommodation and national reconciliation. Stability, peace and unity of Libya are of paramount importance,” she added.

Khar said that it was imperative that humanitarian norms are respected in letter and spirit.

“Reports of civilian casualties are extremely distressing and raise serious questions and could have far-reaching implications about interpretation and implementation of humanitarian principles,” she added.Pakistan has always upheld the principles of respect for the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of states as well as the principles of non-intervention and non-interference in internal affairs, said Khar.”These principles are universal and must be respected in Libya. It is imperative that all sides adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and relevant norms of international law,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Dawn reported that double standards were evident in Pakistan’s demand for upholding the principles of non-intervention and non-interference in internal affairs in case of Libya as it had tacitly endorsed Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) intervention in Bahrain. (ANI)