Pakistan ready to deal with Daish dangers: FO

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is ready to deal with the dangers of Daish and will proffer all help in the Afghan reconciliation process, the Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said on Thursday during a media briefing.
She appeared to be familiar with speculations that the ISIS Ameer Mullah Abu Bakr has appointed Hafiz Saeed Khan as his country Ameer for Pakistan, but maintained that Pakistan’s counter-terrorism operations were going on across-the-board against all terrorists.
“There are two aspects. One, do we find any footprints of ISIS in Pakistan? Even if there is no footprint, we are alert to the danger and would take all appropriate measures to ensure that the ISIS is not able to establish any foothold in Pakistan.
“In the first context, you would recall the issue of wall chalking in certain cities and some detentions and investigation. You may like to check the status of investigations from the Ministry of Interior.”
In another development, days before Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrives in Islamabad to resume the process of dialogue with his counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Pakistan insisted that though the issue of Jammu and Kashmir dispute has been discussed bilaterally, this time the process has to be “result oriented”.
Refusing to speculate about the agenda of the talks, the FO spokesperson said as in the past, she would not like to speculate at this stage what exactly would be the agenda of the talks. “However, whenever the Pakistan-India dialogue resumes, we expect that all matters would on the table for discussion, including Jammu and Kashmir dispute, Siachen, water issues, confidence building measures, people-to-people contacts, trade matters. We have been discussing the Kashmir issue bilaterally. The process, however, has to be result-oriented,” she said.
She said the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is still on the UN Security Council agenda and under the Simla Agreement, both the countries have reaffirmed their commitment to the UN Charter principles.
The decision of the government to try to bring in an officer of Commerce and Trade Group as High Commissioner to Canada has created a storm in the Foreign Office, where officials are ready to move court against the government’s decision, with the spokesperson insisting that an ambassador requires decades of professional experience.
The spokesperson was at her diplomatic best when she responded, “I do not have any official confirmation of the appointment of an officer of Commerce and Trade Group as High Commissioner of Pakistan to Canada. As regards the appointment of officers from one cadre to another cadre, particularly in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this ministry is a specialised cadre, with missions abroad as its field offices. Ambassadorial assignments naturally require experience of diplomacy, which professional diplomats acquire over the decades.”
As efforts continue by US Congressmen to link the release of Dr Shakeel Afridi with financial assistance to Pakistan, the spokesperson said that Pakistan’s role in fighting terrorism had been acknowledged by the international community, including the US.
She added that the total assistance for Pakistan proposed in the State Department budget was $803.8 million. It includes assistance requests for economic, security and other areas. It may be noted that these numbers only form the budget request by the administration in relation to fiscal 2015-16.
“The US fiscal year begins on 1 October. As the next step, the Congress will hold budget hearings to assess the Administration’s policy and programmes. Congressional appropriations and authorisation bills will be enacted and the Congress can make changes in the Administration’s budget request. The process can take many months,” she said.
Rebutting a report, the spokesperson said that Pakistan has decided not to assign additional troops to the UN Peacekeeping missions. She clarified that Pakistan’s role in peacekeeping was underpinned by national consensus and was an integral part of its foreign policy.
“Over 140 Pakistani peacekeepers have so far laid down their lives advancing the cause of world peace. Pakistan has and will continue to maintain its strong commitment and tangible contributions to the United Nations Peacekeeping operations,” she added.