ISLAMABAD, Oct 6: The government categorically stated on Monday that President Asif Ali Zardari had not given any consent to US or allied forces to carry out strikes inside Pakistan.

“The president has been saying consistently that if the coalition forces see any evidence of cross-border activity then that actionable intelligence should be shared with Pakistan immediately so that we can take action on the ground. At all forums the president has clearly asked all allies and forces to respect Pakistan’s territorial integrity. At no point will the president or this government compromise on the country’s sovereignty,” Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Sherry Rehman said in a statement.

The statement came after Mr Zardari’s interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) was reproduced in Pakistani papers saying that Mr Zardari had acknowledged that the US had been carrying out predator missile strikes on Pakistani soil with the consent of his government.

Ms Rehman also denied any change in the country’s Kashmir policy and said the government was firmly committed to extending moral and diplomatic support to the just cause of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination.

“The president has neither called the legitimate struggle of Kashmiris an expression of terrorism nor he has downplayed the sufferings of the Kashmiris,” she said, adding that the president had been misquoted by the American newspaper.

Ms Rehman said that all statements of the president should be viewed in the context of Pakistan’s current relations with India.

She said the ongoing Pakistan-India composite dialogue and several confidence-building measures were an example of warming of bilateral relations.

“However, our efforts for peace with India will not be traded off with our principled stand on Kashmir,” the minister said.

She said that the president’s US visit had been a major success as Mr Zardari had effectively communicated to the global community Pakistan’s position on the war on terror and its stand with regard to respect for its territorial integrity.

She said the president took the international community onboard on issues of militancy and extremism in Pakistan and on the significance of supporting Pakistan’s efforts to fight terrorism.

AP ADDS: President Zardari’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said on Monday that journalists had read too much into Mr Zardari’s comment and that the president was talking in generalities about fighting terrorism.

“The official position is that we do not allow foreign incursions into Pakistani territory,” Mr Babar said.

On the president’s remarks on Kashmir, Mr Babar said that the president meant that “foreign jihadi militants” who had “sneaked into Kashmir” should be condemned as terrorists.