Pakistan protests U.S.-India joint statement on cross-border terrorism

Pakistan has formally lodged a protest with the U.S. over its joint statement with India, that called on Pakistan to punish perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks

Pakistan has formally lodged a protest with the U.S. over its joint statement with India against the country's involvement in cross-border terrorism.

The Foreign Office here said in an overnight statement that the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday evening and a demarche was issued to him regarding the U.S.-India joint statement of June 22.

“Pakistan’s concerns and disappointment at the unwarranted, one-sided and misleading references to it in the joint statement were conveyed to the U.S. side," it said.

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In their joint statement following one-on-one meetings and delegation-level talks on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden called on Pakistan to punish perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks.

Later, Prime Minister Modi in his address to the Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress said there can be "no ifs or buts" in dealing with terrorism and sought action against state sponsors of terrorism, in a veiled attack on Pakistan.

He said that more than two decades after 9/11 and over a decade after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, radicalism and terrorism still remain a pressing danger for the whole world.