The reported remarks of a Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister that Pakistan, gripped by a wave of terror strikes, is "in a total mess" since the mid-seventies has led to objections from Islamabad, which said the comments were "unfair".
Education Minister Susil Premajayantha had reportedly said that destabilisation started in Pakistan after the coup by military leader Zia Ul Haq and that the state of affairs has remained the same since the last three decades.
"Look at Pakistan. The country is in a total mess since military strongman Zia Ul Haq took over the rule in a coup from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the mid-seventies and the trend of destabilisation is still in that country, totally disrupting civilian life and the economy," the Daily Mirror quoted Premajayantha, also the General Secretary of Sri Lanka’s ruling United People Freedom Alliance as saying.
"Even at this very moment, nobody knows when and where a bomb will go off (in Pakistan). The people of this country do not want that kind of situation here," he said. Pakistan has expressed displeasure over the alleged remarks by the senior minister.
"It is very unfair to say that, as your Government benefited most from that military regime," the Sunday Times quoted Pakistan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan as saying.
Khan was speaking at a dinner party held in his honour here on Friday night hosted by Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila.
The Pakistani Minister was in Colombo to represent the country at the two-day Asian Co-operation Dialogue conference.
"He was alluding to the defence material provided to Sri Lanka to fight Tiger (LTTE) guerrillas when the late Gen Zia ul Haq was in power," the newspaper reported.
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