Thaindian News

Islamabad, Dec 14 (IANS) Pakistan will have to do some hard thinking to safeguard the interests of its nationals following the Nov 26 NATO airstrikes that left two dozen soldiers dead, said Acting President Farooq H. Naek, as he participated in a major policy review involving its top envoys.

Naek, officiating in place of Asif Ali Zardari who suddenly left for Dubai Dec 6 over a heart condition, said Tuesday that NATO attack on two army border posts in Mohmand Agency had made it necessary for Pakistan to do some “hard thinking” for taking appropriate short term and long term measures to safeguard its national interests as well as meet challenges of the emerging situations.

He made the remark while interacting with Pakistan’s envoys of major capitals of the world at Aiwan-e-Sadr here, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Naek said though Pakistan’s relationship with the US constituted an important component of its foreign policy, the changes in the international environment since 9/11 warranted constant evaluation and assessment.

A two-day conference of Pakistani envoys deliberated on different aspects of the country’s foreign policy with special focus on reviewing the relationship with the US and NATO.

The conference was called after the US-led NATO fighter jets and helicopters carried out what Pakistani leaders viewed as an intentional attack on two border posts in the country’s Mohmand tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Islamabad angrily reacted to the attack as the military leadership said the NATO aircraft violated the “Red Lines” clearly defined to the US/NATO and ISAF forces in Afghanistan. Pakistan military said that NATO had carried out eight strikes on Pakistani posts in three years, killing 72 soldiers and injuring hundreds of others.

Pakistan’s military leadership rejected regrets from the US and NATO leaders and the civilian leaders preferred to review the future relationship with the US and NATO.