Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday came under attack by the Opposition for acknowledging in Tehran that in the past militants had used his country’s soil to carry out attacks in Iran.
Addressing a joint press conference with Iranian PresidentHassan Rouhani at the end of his two-day trip (April 21-22) to Tehran, Khan hadsaid, “I know Iran has suffered from terrorism (perpetrated) by groupsoperating from Pakistan. We (need to) have trust in each other that bothcountries will not allow any terrorist activity from their soil. We hope thiswill build confidence between us”.
During a discussion on Khan’s visit to Iran in NationalAssembly, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader KhurrumDastigir said,”Prime Minister’s statement is against the national security as for thefirst time he has admitted the use of (the country’s) soil for terrorism inIran.”
“No prime minister has ever made such a confession onforeign soil,” Dastagir said, adding that only a day earlier, “theforeign minister had stated that terrorists had entered from Iran to carry outactivities in Balochistan.”
“Pakistan is exposed internationally by suchstatements,” the PML-N lawmaker said.
He also attacked Khan for his earlier statement that IndianPrime Minister NarendraModi’s re-election could help in moving towards asettlement of Kashmir issue.
Pakistan Peoples Party legislator and former foreignminister HinaRabbaniKhar said, “We are worried for the country afterseeing it continually become a laughing stock”.
She also referred to Khan’s another statement in which hehad said Japan and Germany share borders.
Defending Khan, Pakistan’s Human Rights MinisterShireenMazari said “he was quoted out of context” on hisacknowledgement of use of Pakistani soil by terrorists against Iran.
Later, the Opposition staged protest in front of the Speaker’s chair demanding an explanation from Khan in the floor of the House.