Pakistan considering alternate routes for CASA-1000 to avoid Afghanistan
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ISLAMABAD: (APP) Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi said that Pakistan desired peace in Afghanistan but at the same time it was working on alternate routes for CASA-1000 project to avoid Afghanistan to import electricity from Tajikistan.
Talking to a private television channel on Sunday night, Fatemi said Pakistan had improved its ties with Central Asian states.
It had signed major agreements on energy and trade with Tajikistan, Kyrghyzstan and Turkmenistan.
When asked that the TAPI and CASA lines would pass through Afghanistan, he said Pakistan wanted peace in Afghanistan but alternate routes had also been identified so that the country (Afghanistan) could be avoided. These routes were being worked on, he added.
He said Pakistan pursued the policy of friendly neighbourhood but it was not reciprocated.
He said Pakistan was committed to carry forward the Quadrilateral Coordination Group's efforts for peace in Afghanistan as political solution would be the best.
He said Pakistan wanted not only to normalize its relations with Afghanistan but also desired to turn them into cooperative ones.
To a question, Fatemi said unlike Afghanistan, Pakistan did not want to fan bitterness by 'waving bilateral differences from rooftop'.
"The origins of Lahore and Peshawar attacks go to Afghanistan. TTP leadership is living in Afghanistan. We also told them where they are living," he remarked. He, however, reiterated to resolve the differences through a mechanism and that Pakistan would not allow use of its soil for subversive activities in any other country.
Apprising about the details of a high level meeting chaired by the Prime Minister after the Quetta attack, the SAPM said after Pakistan moved on right trajectory with positive economic indicators, the foreign agencies got involved in negative activities.
He said under the National Action Plan, the government would train the security forces, use the latest technology and improve criminal justice system, besides improving laws to ensure early decisions on apprehended persons.
Responding to a question, Fatemi said the issue of Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav was not yet over as the matter would also be taken up with the United Nations.
