ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan summoned the top British official in the country Monday amid a diplomatic spat over comments by Britain's leader suggesting the South Asian nation exports terrorism.
British Prime Minister David Cameron's comments last week were amplified by the fact that he made them while visiting Pakistan's nuclear rival, India. The two countries have fought three wars since they gained independence from Britain over 60 years ago.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told British High Commissioner Adam Thomson "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."
Cameron, who took office in May, said last week that Pakistan must not be allowed to "promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world."
Cameron later conceded that Pakistan had made moves to crack down against terrorist organizations, but said "it still needs to take further steps."
The remarks outraged Pakistani officials. Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's ambassador to Britain, called the comments "an immature reaction from an immature politician."
The diplomatic row prompted the head of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, to call off a trip to London planned for this week.
But Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari ignored domestic calls for him to cancel his trip to Britain later this week.
The upcoming visit will provide the two leaders "a useful opportunity to understand each other's viewpoint on issues of mutual concern, as well as take the bilateral relationship forward," said the Pakistani Foreign Ministry in a statement.
Pakistan insists that it has done more than any other country to combat terrorism, sending the army to fight Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants within its borders and cooperating closely with Western intelligence agencies.
But its spy agency has long been accused of secretly aiding Afghanistan's Taliban and other Islamist militants.
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