ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has responded back hard to the Afghanistan’s statementover the merger of the FATA with KP.
Pakistan has turned down Afghanistan’s rejection of the merger ofPakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with its KhyberPakhtunkhwa province terming it “interference.”
“The decision by the parliament on FATA’s merger is in accordance with thewill of the people,” a spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Office said, addingthat Afghanistan not acting on the principles of non-interference isregretful.
Earlier this week, the National Assembly and Senate of Pakistan passed aconstitutional amendment bill clearing the way for KP-FATA merger.
In the final phase, a session of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly passed theKP-FATA merger bill with two-thirds majority earlier today.link>link>
The passage of the bill from the KP Assembly came at a time of AfghanistanNational Security Advisor (NSA) Mohammad Hanif Atmar’s visit to Pakistan.
Atmar, who will be accompanied by high-level representatives of the Afghanarmy, is scheduled to meet Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar JavedBajwa.
The two sides will discuss regional security and bilateral relations at themeeting.