ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain asked the international community on Thursday not to impose more polio-related sanctions on Pakistan.

Talking to foreign diplomats at a ceremony organised in connection with 12th anniversary of the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) at the Presidency, the president highlighted different issues related to the government’s internal and foreign policies, from polio to the ongoing military operation in the tribal areas and Pakistan-India relations.

Know more: The polio challenge

The president’s spokesperson quoted the president as saying: “The international community should be sympathetic [towards] Pakistan in eradicating polio, rather than imposing more sanctions.”

President blames wars in Afghanistan for spread of crippling disease

The president was of the view that the polio virus had travelled to Pakistan from Afghanistan due to the wars that had ravaged the neighbouring country. “Pakistan is not responsible for the spread of polio, but wars in Afghanistan,” he claimed.

The president’s views on the matter belie various international reports that count a lack of access to target areas and a forced ban on vaccination by the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as the main reasons for the unfettered spread of polio across the country.

Also read: Post-WHO sanctions polio cases irk Islamabad

Defending the government, President Hussain said: “The government is making all-out efforts for the eradication of polio and these efforts would bring fruitful results.”

The president was confident that Operation Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan would not only bring an end to extremism, but also help in the eradication of polio from the country. He commended the determination and bravery displayed by the Pakistan Army in the ongoing action against terrorists.

Later, talking about relations with India, the president said: “We are working hard to improve relations with India.” Mr Hussain said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took important initiatives to normalise relations with India, but untoward incidents at the border disrupted the peace efforts.

The president said that the government had requested Afghanistan and Iran for cooperation to curb extremism and cross-border terrorism. “We don’t want terrorists to move from one country to another and create problems, therefore all neighbouring countries should work in a cooperative framework to solve this problem,” he said.

The president said the government’s top priority was the revival of the economy and development of infrastructure and called on foreign diplomats to invest more and more in Pakistan.

He also updated diplomats on the economic corridor being developed with China’s cooperation and briefed them on the government’s energy plans.

The ceremony was attended by the ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, the European Union and Austria and KCFR’s secretary general.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2014