ISLAMABAD: Pakistan once again urged the Afghanistan interim Taliban government to take action against those individuals and entities – banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – that threaten Pakistan and are involved in cross-border terrorism.
Speaking at her weekly media briefing in response to queries, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said it was important for the Afghanistan authorities to take action against those individuals and entities that threatened Pakistan.
“It is their responsibility, their international responsibility, their bilateral responsibility and their trilateral responsibility as they have committed in the trilateral between Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China. So, how they do it we do not want to comment on it but it is their responsibility and we hope they will fulfill the commitments that they have made,” she emphasized.
About Thursday’s terrorist attack in Bannu which was reportedly claimed by the Hafiz Gulbahadur group, an Afghanistan-based terror outfit and a different faction of the TTP, she said the law enforcement authorities were collecting evidence and the details of the incident.
“When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is called upon to share this intelligence and our concerns with the Afghan authorities we will do so,” she said in response to a question whether Pakistan is going to express its concern with Afghanistan.
When asked to comment on Russia’s Ambassador to India’s statement who had claimed that “Moscow is aware of the reports that Pakistan is providing weapons to Ukraine to aid its war against Russia,” she refuted the reports, saying that Pakistan’s position is very clear about the conflict.
“Pakistan continues to maintain neutrality between Russia and Ukraine in this dispute. We have longstanding ties with both countries, and there is no change in Pakistan’s position,” she added.
Responding to another question about the reported visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, she said the Foreign Office had neither made any announcement with regard to the visit nor shared any details of any high-level visit from Saudi Arabia.
“When such a visit takes place and we have confirmed information and both sides agree to announce the visit we will make an announcement at the time,” she added.
Commenting on the ongoing hearing in the Indian Supreme Court about Article 370, she said that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally-recognised disputed territory, whose final disposition is to be made in accordance with the United Nations resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
“Any other process cannot serve as a substitute to the grant of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. Any other developments in the IIOJK will be observed and examined in Pakistan and we will give our reaction if there are any further developments,” she said.
She added that Pakistan’s position is very consistent and clear that India must rescind its illegal acts of the 5th of August 2019 and create an environment for peace and dialogue in the region.
On the second death anniversary of the iconic Kashmiri leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, she urged the government of India to give unhindered access to his family and followers to his final resting place.
About the two-day UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Preparatory Meeting hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad on August 30-31, she said that co-hosted by Japan, the moot brought together a diverse range of participants including senior officials from the UN Secretariat and representatives from UN member states, as well as local and international experts on the subject.
She added that the meeting featured rich and productive discussions, spread over five substantive sessions, on important aspects of safety and security of UN peacekeepers. These included: capacity building needs; the international law perspective; importance of medical care; role of technology and strategic communication; and the threats posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), she added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023