Islamabad: Pakistan's Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar on Friday said that his government acted against the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)'s front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa in accordance with the UN resolution to prevent the country from being declared a terrorist state.
India has blamed the LeT for the terror attacks in its commercial hub of Mumbai.
“We are part of the international community and cannot afford confrontation with the whole world,” Mukhtar told media persons after receiving pilgrims returning from Haj at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, the Associated Press of Pakistan said.
The UN listed the Jamaat a terror outfit on Wednesday in the wake of the Mumbai strikes in which 179 people were killed.
The minister praised President Asif Ali Zardari for handling the matter in an "effective manner", and said, “Peace is always the best solution to all problems.”
He said, “Such a situation does not arise every day and it is the responsibility of the government to handle it properly.”
Mukhtar said wars are not a solution to problems, and that the nation was "still paying the price" of the wars of 1965, 1971 and the Afghan war.
He said the country's armed forces are "fully capable to defend the homeland", when asked about defence preparedness in the wake of "external threat". “We are not afraid of anyone but want to live with peace.”
To a question, he said the US officials who recently visited Pakistan had expressed satisfaction over the government’s efforts towards maintaining peace in the region.
“War on terror is our own war and in the interest of the country,” the minister reiterated.
He said any person or organisation found trying to de-stabilise the country would be dealt with "iron hands".
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