'Pakistan will take every step to protect national interest'

Islamabad, June 12: Pakistan will take every step to ensure that its national interests are protected, an official said on Friday.

Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said the issue of the recent statements made by the Indian leadership would be taken up at the diplomatic level, Geo News reported.

He said Pakistan knew how to respond to any threat in a befitting manner.

Khalilullah's comments came after the Pakistani parliament on Thursday unanimously passed resolutions strongly condemning recent provocative statements made by Indian leaders, including the threat of attacks against Pakistani territory.

Following a rare cross-border operation conducted by the Indian Army in Myanmar on Tuesday, India's Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said on Wednesday that, based on intelligence, "we will carry out surgical strikes at the place and time of our own choosing".

"Western disturbances will also be equally dealt with," Rathore said when asked if attacks could be carried out on the western (Pakistan) border.

The parliamentary resolutions here reiterated that the Pakistan Army was fighting a war against terrorism and was fully prepared to respond to any form of aggression.

IANS