Islamabad, Nov 8 : With international pressure mounting on the Musharraf regime over the state of emergency in Pakistan, the Foreign Office has said the imposition of emergency was temporary, but added that it was essential to avert institutional breakdown in the country.

“The emergency was imposed to avert an institutional breakdown that could have caused political instability, harmed economic growth and also undermined efforts to counter terrorist and extremist militancy,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

“The international community must understand the gravity of the situation in which emergency has been imposed.

“We reject a few of the unwarranted criticism and excessive reactions that clearly betray a lack of understanding of the challenging circumstances faced by the country,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Mehmood Durrani, has said the emergency would be lifted soon, and an interim government would be set up to conduct elections.

Defending the government’s decision, Durrani said that had the people been unhappy with the emergency decision, they would have come out on the streets, the Daily Times reported. (ANI)