Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani talks to Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.—APP File photo

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday warned the US and its Nato allies that any future cross-border attack would meet with a “detrimental response.”

US-Pakistani relations plunged to a new low last month after a cross-border Nato air strike which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Gilani made the comments while meeting army chief of staff General Ashfaq Kayani, the prime minister's secretariat said in a statement.

“The democratic government would not allow similar attack on the country's sovereignty and any attempt in future will definitely meet the detrimental response,” the statement quoted Gilani as saying.

Pakistani security officials earlier said they had upgraded the air defence system on the Afghan border to make it capable of shooting down aircraft.

Kayani informed the prime minister of the steps taken on the western boarders to revamp defence capabilities aimed at effectively countering any future incursion into Pakistani territory.

“The government and the people of Pakistan were ready to provide the armed forces all the necessary resources to bolster its defence and professional capabilities,” Gilani said.

Pakistan shut its border to Nato supply convoys on November 26, hours after the deadliest single cross-border attack of the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

The government also ordered the United States to leave the Shamsi air base in the southwest, widely reported to be a hub in the covert CIA drone war against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan's border area with Afghanistan.

According to sources the Shamsi base has been vacated completely by the US forces on Friday. UAE officials were expected to take charge of the base from Saturday.

The November 26 attack brought the fragile Pakistani-US alliance to a fresh low, already reeling from a covert American raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden near the Pakistani capital on May 2.

 

Opinion

Accessing the RSF

Accessing the RSF

RSF can help catalyse private sector inves­tment encouraging investment flows, build upon institutional partnerships with MDBs, other financial institutions.

Editorial

Madressah oversight
Updated 19 Dec, 2024

Madressah oversight

Bill should be reconsidered and Directorate General of Religious Education, formed to oversee seminaries, should not be rolled back.
Kurram’s misery
Updated 19 Dec, 2024

Kurram’s misery

The state must recognise that allowing such hardship to continue undermines its basic duty to protect citizens’ well-being.
Hiking gas rates
19 Dec, 2024

Hiking gas rates

IMPLEMENTATION of a new Ogra recommendation to increase the gas prices by an average 8.7pc or Rs142.45 per mmBtu in...
Geopolitical games
Updated 18 Dec, 2024

Geopolitical games

While Assad may be gone — and not many are mourning the end of his brutal rule — Syria’s future does not look promising.
Polio’s toll
18 Dec, 2024

Polio’s toll

MONDAY’s attacks on polio workers in Karak and Bannu that martyred Constable Irfanullah and wounded two ...
Development expenditure
18 Dec, 2024

Development expenditure

PAKISTAN’S infrastructure development woes are wide and deep. The country must annually spend at least 10pc of its...