ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Pakistan on Monday condemned bomb blasts in Hyderabad Deccan, but cautioned the Indian authorities against finger-pointing without investigating the attacks.

Speaking at a weekly news briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam termed the attacks as terrorist acts.

When asked to comment on attempts by some Indian authorities to pin the blame of the blasts on Pakistan, she said: “I do not want to comment on conjectures. It is always better to investigate incidents of terrorism then to start speculating.

Commenting on the next meeting of the Joint Pakistan-India Anti Terrorism Mechanism which was supposed to meet on quarterly basis but had not met after its first meeting in March, she said no schedule for the meeting had been finalised yet. “We are expecting the officer who will take over as UN additional secretary to arrive shortly. Once he is there then perhaps the two additional secretaries can get in touch and decide the dates”, she added

To a question about the Indian commerce minister’s statement that New Delhi was awaiting Pakistan’s response on the proposals made on trade across the LoC, she said: “I think there have been some discussions and we believe that we are moving in the direction of opening the LoC for trade for Kashmiris and the truck service.”

When asked about the prospects of a resolution of the Siachen issue, Ms Aslam said Pakistan would like to see an early solution to this dispute. Pointing to environmental concerns now linked to it, she said: “It is in our mutual interest to resolve this issue as soon as possible. We believe we have made some proposals which can lead to its solution. What it requires now is political will.”

Commenting on the Japanese defence minister’s reported statement that Japan would like Pakistan to sign the NPT, the spokesperson pointed out Pakistan had offered to sign the NPT along with India but its initiative did not receive the desired response. The statement, she said, could only be regarded as the Japan government’s desire in the context of its view of global non-proliferation regime.

In response to a related question, she mentioned the statement of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general that the non-proliferation regime needed to accommodate the ground realities.

She said: “There are countries which are de facto nuclear weapon states and the bottom line is the IAEA director-general has recommended that these nuclear weapon states are a reality. There is a realisation that this is something that cannot be undone, so it is better for the credibility of the non proliferation regime that there should be some kind of accommodation.”

Responding to another question she made it clear that Pakistan did not consider the Durand Line an issue.

To a question regarding the government’s view on London having become the abode of dissident Pakistani politicians, the spokesperson said: “Unless someone is wanted in a criminal case, people are free to travel and they can reside wherever they want.”

The spokesperson termed as “speculative and fabricated” a report in the Newsweek magazine about the alleged understanding that allows the US troops to operate inside Pakistan.

She said: “No such understanding with the US exists. The parameters of Pakistan’s cooperation with the US and Nato are clear to everyone including the Nato forces across the border and the US Administration. These parameters of cooperation are limited to intelligence sharing and coordination.”

The spokesperson said any operation to be conducted inside Pakistani territory based on actionable intelligence was Pakistan government’s responsibility.

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