In These New Times

Press TV

Pakistani Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani says Islamabad will not use its nuclear arsenal against the US to stop its incursions inside the country.

“We are a nuclear power but we will not demonstrate any irresponsible attitude,” he told a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Daily Times reported.

“But we will take measures for protection of the integrity of Pakistan,” Gilani added.

Gilani’s remarks come after two deadly US air strikes in two Waziristan villages Friday that killed 32 people, raising tensions between Washington and Islamabad.

The incident in the lawless province is the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani soil that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington.

Gilani urged the International community to stop the United States’ incursions into Pakistan’s tribal belt near the Afghan border.

The prime minister said that he would raise the issue in a meeting with the US ambassador to Islamabad. Also last week on Wednesday, the Pakistani government had summoned the US ambassador to protest over the issue.

Gilani noted that the Afghan President Hamid Karzai would also take the matter up with the US-led NATO forces based in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has frequently protested over the US incursions into Pakistan’s tribal region, with Prime Minister Gilani earlier terming the attacks as ‘acts of terrorism’. President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday also strongly condemned the recent US air raid inside Pakistani territory and termed the strikes as attacks on the sovereignty and autonomy of Pakistan.