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Kerry-Lugar explanatory note has no legal value’
* PML-N MNA says no state can accept clauses holding it responsible for promoting terrorism
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The explanatory statement attached to the Kerry-Lugar bill has no legal value, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid MNA Marvi Memon said on Thursday.
She said the “lethal aspects” of the bill would not be toned down, even if the statement had any legal validity.
In a statement, Marvi said the most controversial clause in the bill pertained to giving the US direct access to Pakistani nationals associated with networks helping to acquire nuclear weapons-related materials. The explanatory statement was unacceptable as it demanded ‘cooperative efforts’ to combat proliferation. Such cooperation was intrusive since it demanded ‘direct access’, she added.
Marvi said Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and did not wish to proliferate, but that did not mean that the country agreed to such kind of information sharing.
Promoting terrorism: Marvi said another clause in the bill referred to Islamabad accepting that its military and intelligence agencies had supported terrorist organisations in the past. She said the explanatory note would not delete that “admission”, adding no state would accept a clause that held it liable for promoting state terrorism. It would be irresponsible on the government’s part to accept the allegation and open the doors for further accusations from India, she added.
Marvi said another issue regarding the statement pertained to US President Barack Obama’s regional security strategy that included working with “relevant governments and organisations in the region and elsewhere”. It has been reiterated in the statement that said the clause was meant to develop a “regional security plan for how the US can best work with its partners”.
Marvi said such a regional strategy would be “lethal” for Pakistan’s national security interests since it could include foreign intelligence agencies such as India’s Research and Analysis Wing and Israel’s Mossad.
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