ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received an invitation sent by Indian Minister of External Affairs to his counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to attend the SCO Foreign Ministers meeting in India in May.
While responding on the query, the Foreign Office (FO) Spokeswoman at the weekly media briefing on Thursday responded that like in the past, these invitations are being processed as per standard procedures and a decision will be taken in due course.
When asked about the invitation sent by Indian Minister of External Affairs to his counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to attend the SCO Foreign Ministers meeting in India in May, she said, “Both Pakistan and India are members of the SCO, an important trans-regional organization that aims to strengthen economic linkages and cooperation among its member states in different fields. India is holding the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State for the year 2022-2023. Every year, SCO develops a calendar of activities, which include meetings of foreign ministers. In that capacity, the chair extends invitation to all member states,” she further explained.
In the past, all Pakistani foreign ministers have attended all SCO meetings culminating in summits, one of which was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last year in July in Tashkent.
When asked to comment on the recent book by former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in which he said that Pakistan and India were very close to a nuclear war during the Balakot attack, she explained, “This is the personal account of one individual. The international community knows fully well the reality who was the belligerent party during the events of February 2019. The international community is fully aware of the restraint and responsibility displayed by Pakistan and the steps we took to de-escalate the situation in contrast to the highly irresponsible posturing and war hysteria by India. At the same time, we demonstrated our firm resolve to take action to safeguard our territorial integrity and security against any form of aggression.”
Pakistan on Thursday remembered the martyrs in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) of the 1990s and paid rich tribute to their sacrifices.
“Today January 27, is a reminder of another day of bloodshed in 1994 when Indian troops massacred 27 civilians in Kupwara town of IIOJ&K. Till this day, the victims and their families have been awaiting justice and perpetrators of these heinous crimes have never been held to account,” said the spokeswoman at the weekly media briefing.
She pointed to the last 10 days of January carried painful memories of three massacres committed by the occupying Indian forces. On 21st January, 1990, in Gawa Kadal area of Srinagar, the Indian troops opened fire on peaceful protesters, killing at least 50 civilians and injuring dozens. A few days later, on 25th January, 1990, another 21 unarmed Kashmiris were killed by the Indian troops in Handwara town in northern IIOJ&K.
“Pakistan will continue to raise its voice on the continuing grave human rights abuses in IIOJ&K. It will also continue to extend unstinted moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their quest for self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” she added.
Pakistan is expected to raise the issue of Kashmiris when the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, leads the Pakistan delegation to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. “On 30th January 2023, the minister of state will present Pakistan’s national progress report under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process at the Council. This will be Pakistan’s 4th review. Previously, Pakistan has been reviewed under this process in 2008, 2012 and 2017”, announced the Spokeswoman.
In her presentation, the Hina Rabbani will outline the wide-ranging legal, policy, administrative and institutional steps taken by Pakistan to safeguard and advance human rights over the last five years. She will also highlight Pakistan’s important contributions towards global human rights discourse and norm-building.
Established in 2007, UPR is an important mechanism of Human Rights Council. Under this peer-driven review mechanism, human rights record of all UN member states is reviewed every four to five years. Pakistan will continue its constructive engagement with the Human Rights Council and the UN Human Rights Machinery.
To a query on the turmoil in India where the Modi government is trying unsuccessfully to ban the airing of a BBC documentary on the killings in Gujarat when Modi was the chief minister and included a secret British probe, the Spokeswoman responded, “The contents of the BBC documentary, we believe, are neither new nor surprising. It corroborates what Pakistan and the international human rights community has said for years about the 2002 Gujarat massacre and the shrinking space for minorities, especially Muslims in India,” she said.
It also depicts, she pointed out, the sad reality in India where senior political leaders operate in a climate of impunity, and incite hateful and violent acts for political gains. Lives, property and places of worship of religious minorities are under constant threat. “This climate is perpetuated by curbs on flow of information and freedom of expression. The Indian reaction to the BBC documentary, including restrictions on its circulation, has once again highlighted the shrinking space for freedom of media in India,” she noted.
The spokeswoman said the second part of the documentary, which was released yesterday, justifiably gives an account of India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5th August, 2019 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir as part of a series of anti-Muslim measures being taken by India’s ruling dispensation. It particularly highlights the environment of fear in IIOJ&K, created inter alia, through arbitrary detentions and torture.
“It also talks about the ongoing efforts for Indianization in IIOJ&K and actions to change the demography of occupied territory to convert Kashmiris into a minority in their own land. All these assertions are yet another endorsement of what we have been saying during the last three years and a half,” she said.
To queries regarding Abdul Rehman Makki and why China released its hold finally, the spokeswoman responded,” I would like to say that the decision regarding the listing of Abdul Rehman Makki was made by the United Nations Security Council under its listing procedures. As a responsible member of the international community, Pakistan follows the decisions of the United Nations on listing issues.”
Pakistan is still not satisfied with the security conditions in Afghanistan and is reluctant to allow its ambassador to return to the Mission in Kabul. “There is no change in the status. Ambassador Nizamani is still in Pakistan, and consultations are ongoing. As you would recall, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had a very constructive telephone conversation with the Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan a few days ago wherein issues pertaining to security were also discussed. We are in consultation with the Afghan interim government on all security related matters including the security of our diplomats and premises of our diplomatic Missions.”