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"Pakistan will not allow its territory to be used against other countries, especially Afghanistan and under no circumstances will foreign troops be allowed to operate inside Pakistan," the government said in a statement after a top-level security meeting.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani presided over the meeting which included federal and provincial government leaders and military and security agency chiefs. "The meeting unanimously agreed that elimination of terrorism and extremism is the gravest challenge to Pakistan's national security and to fight this menace a multi-pronged strategy will be followed," the government said.
It was the strongest message on militancy yet from a three-month old government that critics say has been preoccupied with internal political wrangling and blind to looming security threats. The main thrust of the policy would be the political engagement of the people through their elected representatives and tribal elders, together with economic development and "selective use of military force", the government said.
The government said tribal elders would be responsible for expelling foreign militants and for ensuring that militants did not cross the border into Afghanistan. "All agreements with the tribes ... will be backed by a robust enforcement mechanism" with the government reserving the right to use force, it said. It did not refer to similar agreements struck under the previous government which failed to curb militant violence and, critics say, enabled the militants to regroup.
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