ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's decision not to attend a conference on the future of Afghanistan in Germany next week, taken to protest against a Nato cross-border attack that killed 24 soldiers, is final, a foreign ministry official said on Wednesday.
“Of course it's the final word. Pakistan is not attending,” the official told Reuters, shortly after the German government urged Islamabad to reverse its stand.
Fury over the attack is growing, with more protests across Pakistan and tough editorials in newspapers.
“It is definitely not Pakistan's intention to work against the rest of the world,” Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told Dawn News television on Wednesday.
“But the rest of the world also has to understand that if they have pushed Pakistan into this corner, violated red lines, then they have denied the basis of partnership,” she said.
Islamabad's decision to boycott next week's meeting in Bonn will deprive the talks of a key player that could nudge Taliban militants into a peace process as Nato combat troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
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