Pakistan has sought explanation from the United States over reports that its citizens have been a major target of intelligence surveillance.
Pakistan then asked the U.S. to respect the privacy of its citizens.
According to Dawn News, Pakistan’s apprehensions were conveyed to US Chargé d’Affaires Richard Hoagland by senior Foreign Office officials at a recent meeting.
At the weekly briefing on Thursday, Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said they have taken the matter with the US to ascertain veracity of the reports and obtain facts of the matter.
He added that they were waiting from the response from the U.S.
A report in the Guardian earlier this week had claimed that information obtained from the US National Security Agency’s data-mapping tool ‘Boundless Informant’ had shown that Pakistan was second among the countries most subjected to intelligence surveillance by the US with almost 13.5 billion reports in just one month — March.
A source said Pakistani intelligence agencies were particularly upset over the revelation about the intensity of the surveillance.
When US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Pakistan this month, he will be confronted with tough questions over drone war and the paranoid snooping programme, the report added. (ANI)