London, Sep.19 (ANI): Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has asked Britain to stop blaming Islamabad for the ‘home grown’ terror plots against the UK.
Referring to Britain’s lashing out at Pakistan on the liquid bomb plot issue, Qureshi said it was unfair to criticize Pakistan for every terror plot hatched in Britain.
“It is easy to pass the buck, but they (liquid bomb plotters) were British citizens. They went to school here, they are part of the British system, and they live here. If they do something extraordinary is it fair that Pakistan should be blamed?” The Independent quoted Qureshi, as saying.
Pakistan has been critical of Britain’s accusations and has objected to allegations regarding it not doing enough to counter the expanding reach of the extremists based in the country’s tribal region.
A top Pakistani diplomat recently reacted strongly to Britain’s accusations regarding Pakistan harbouring extremists plotting to attack the UK.
The diplomat charged Britain of not doing enough to tackle home grown terrorists and treating Pakistan as a “whipping boy”.
“Sometimes for our British friends the truth is bitter. We have somehow turned out to be a ‘whipping boy’, there is a long history to that. The British need to search their own house,” the diplomat had said.
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Gordon Brown, during his Islamabad visit earlier this year, had said: “Three-quarters of the most serious plots investigated by the British authorities have links to Al-Qaida in Pakistan.”
Brown’s statement had angered Pakistani leadership and strained relationship between two countries, but things normalized later with President Asif Ali Zardari visit to the UK. (ANI)