Pakistan said Monday that it would go ahead with its plan to selectively fence its border with Afghanistan despite opposition from the Afghan government.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced late last year to fence 35 kilometers of its border of more than 2,000 kilometers long with Afghanistan to check illegal cross-border movement.

Kabul has strongly opposed the fencing plan, saying it will not help in maintaining border security but will divide the people along the borders, especially Pashtoons.

At her weekly press briefing, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said that there was no plan to drop the idea.

Asked about opposition to the fencing plan from the Afghan government, she said, "We are doing it inside our territory, on our side of international border. We are doing it to strengthen border control to address Afghan complaints and it will be done."

To a question about Musharraf's meeting with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Ankara, Turkey, she said, "It is our hope that the meeting in Ankara would help clear any misunderstandings that may exist."

She said that the meeting would also help the two countries " better coordinate their efforts in countering terrorism in streamlining their actions on both sides of the international borders and strengthen relationship which is important for both countries".

Source: Xinhua