[DAWN] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
sounded on Friday an implied warning to his political rivals engaged in anti-drone protests against pushing the country into isolation in the international arena and said his government desired peace and friendship with other countries.
"Our effort is to transform the existing friendly ties into mutually beneficial partnerships. We live in a globalised world where no-one can afford isolation at any level," he said after inaugurating a new block at the Foreign Office.
He cautioned that isolation led a state to alienation from the world community. He did not make any direct reference to the ongoing suspension of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
supplies through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
because of protests by the PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami
...
The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
against drone attacks, but his comments were obvious about the subject and people he intended to address.
Mr Sharif's remarks came as the anti-drone protests spread to Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
for blocking the second land route used by NATO for shipment to and from Afghanistan.
The US has been pressurising the Pakistain government to keep the land routes open, particularly in view of the drawdown taking place from Afghanistan.
The US Congress had last week passed a bill linking Coalition Support Fund reimbursements to reopening of the supply routes. The US reimburses, under the CSF, the cost incurred by Pakistain on operations in support of the war on terror in Afghanistan. The amount authorised for reimbursements during 2014 is $1.5 billion.
The government has lately temped down its rhetoric on drones. There has been a substantial shift in the language of statements from the Foreign Office since Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan's threat of reviewing ties with the US in response to the killing of TTP chief Hakeemullah Mehsud in a drone attack on Nov 1.
The prime minister said his government was conscious of the challenges posed by extremism and terrorism and deteriorating economy. Listing his government's policy priorities, he said their objective was to build a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood, reach out to regional and international partners, focus on "trade, not aid" and develop a consensus-based approach to counter terrorism.
He said his government had begun taking steps for achieving these goals by improving relations with Afghanistan, resuming dialogue with India, strengthening strategic partnership with China, rebuilding relations with the US, engaging with Europe and enhancing solidarity with the Mohammedan world.