Pakistan takes Britain to task for remarks

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Britain's foreign minister was summoned to Islamabad to discuss Prime Minister David Cameron's comments on Pakistan's approach toward terrorism, officials said.

Cameron sparked controversy last week in India when he said Pakistan couldn't "look both ways" by tolerating terrorism as it demands international respect as a democracy.

"The foreign minister (Shah Mehmood Qureshi) emphasized that terrorism was a global issue and had to be dealt with by all countries in a spirit of cooperation, rather than putting the entire onus on any one country," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement. "He said Pakistan was itself a victim of terrorism and its efforts against violent extremism could not be negated."

A Foreign Office spokesman told The Guardian the office could confirm that Adam Thompson, Britain's high commissioner to Pakistan, "is meeting this morning with the foreign minister at the request of the ministry of foreign affairs."

British officials have been trying to downplay the significance of the remarks made in India, Pakistan's longtime rival.

The dust-up threatens to overshadow an official visit to London by Pakistani President Asif Zardari Tuesday, The Guardian said.

Pakistan's military establishment canceled a visit by an intelligence official to Britain over the prime minister's remarks and protesters in Karachi burned an effigy of Cameron.