Pakistan on Friday reacted angrily to US Ambassador Nancy Powell's blunt warning that it must stop being a "platform for terrorism" and honour its commitment to end infiltration across the Line of Control into Jammu and Kashmir, saying her remarks were aimed at appeasing New Delhi.
"Either the US envoy has been misquoted or her statement is aimed at appeasing India," Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said.
Denying any infiltration of militants from Pakistan into J&K, he said the US should impress on India to begin talks with Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue.
"The world community, particularly the US, should exert pressure on India to sit on dialogue table with Pakistan for [the] resolution of all outstanding issues, including [the] core issue of Kashmir," he said.
Powell told a meeting of the American Business Council in Karachi on Thursday that "Pakistan must ensure that its pledges are implemented to prevent infiltration across the Line of Control and end the use of Pakistan as a platform for terrorism."
The Pakistani information minister claimed that his country was "top supporter of anti-terrorism" operations and "expects from USA that it should use its influence and pressure India to start dialogue with Pakistan to ensure peace in the region."
"We neither are infiltrating nor patronising it. The Kashmiri struggle is purely indigenous and they (Kashmiris) have been rendering sacrifices for their fundamental rights," he claimed.
