US troops surge can further destabilise Pakistan

Lahore, June 10 (ANI): Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said the US move to send 21,000 extra troops to war-ravaged Afghanistan could have serious implications for his country.

"Pakistan has talked through political and military ways at all levels to the stakeholders that transferring the problem from Afghanistan to Pakistan will not help resolve the issue," he told reporters in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Pakistan is worried that the US president's move to boost military presence in Afghanistan could further destabilise Pakistan by pushing more militants across the border, he said.

Increased US military activity may also spark an influx of refugees from insurgency-hit southern Afghanistan into Pakistan; the Daily Times quoted Qureshi, as saying.

The Foreign Minister added that the US military surge in Afghanistan might also have implications for Balochistan, which is already rocked by rebel violence.

Qureshi urged Washington to pursue non-military solutions to conflict in the region. "There should be a civilian surge to promote reconciliatory efforts in Afghanistan to resolve the issue."

He said Pakistan and Turkey had decided to organise a regional summit on Afghanistan and its neighbours in November to discuss peace and security. (ANI)