Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. — AP/File

Addressing a session of the National Assembly, the interior minister said that inevitably there is always a reaction to a military operation, adding that security issues should not be politicised.

“Their targets are soft and easy but we are trying to strengthen our mechanism to foil their nefarious designs,” he said.

Nisar said terrorists wanted to spread fear and panic to divide the nation.

“Intelligence agencies share information with provinces and forces whenever sought by provincial governments. No province is held responsible over terrorism neither is any province criticised over the law and order situation,” he said.

“Fingers should have been pointed at terrorists instead of pointing them at each other,” adding that protests should have been carried out against terrorists instead of the provincial government.

“Deteriorating law and order situation should not be termed a failure of provinces,” he said adding that the entire nation and the political leadership should stand united to weed out the menace of terrorism from the country once and for all.

The interior minister also cited incidents from across the world, including the lone gunman’s siege in the United States, the militant standoff in Germany, the recent Charlie Hebdo ‘attack in the heart of France’ to make his point.

He said that hundreds of terrorists have been arrested in about five hundred intelligence-based operations across the country and added that improved coordination between security agencies and the federal and provincial governments have helped thwart many terrorist attacks.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah told the House that the opposition will continue to extend all possible support to the government on the issue of national security.

Pakistan wants result-oriented talks with India: Sartaj Aziz

Earlier during the day, Adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistan wants meaningful and result-oriented dialogue with India for resolution of all outstanding issues.

During question hour, Sartaj Aziz told the National Assembly that the onus of resuming dialogue between India and Pakistan lay with India as it had suspended the Foreign Secretaries’ level dialogue on a ‘flimsy excuse of our High Commissioner’s meeting with the Kashmir leaders in New Delhi’.

He also clarified that dialogue process minus Kashmir issue would be futile and not acceptable to Pakistan.

Aziz said that Pakistan had not yet received any indication from the US regarding reports that US President Barack Obama during his visit to India had tried to persuade New Delhi to resume dialogue with Islamabad.

He said the ‘absence of dialogue, hostile statements, negative propaganda and tensions on the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundaries were indicative of Indian intransigence and reluctance to the resume the dialogue’.

Aziz said that Pakistan was working with other countries to impress upon India the importance of uninterrupted dialogue for regional peace, stability and development.

He said Pakistan on its part is striving to reduce tension with India on the border.

Talking about Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan, Sartaj Aziz said the relations are on an upward trajectory.

“A new phase has commenced in Pak-Afghan relations as a result of our intensified engagements with the new Afghan leadership,” he added.