Ex-foreign secy had advised IK govt to stay engaged with US, avoid acrimony

ISLAMABAD: In his testimony before the trial court in the cipher case, former foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood disclosed that he had told the Imran Khan cabinet that declassification of cipher would not only undermine exchanges with foreign interlocutors but could also affect relations with the US and some other countries besides complicating matters with multilateral financial institutions.

He said that he had advised the Imran Khan government to remain engaged with the US and avoid public acrimony.

“Purpose of this advice was to protect the relations of Pakistan with an important country and to avoid public and politicised discussion on a secret and privileged communication,” Sohail Mahmood told the trial court on Monday, in his testimony, a copy of which is available with The News.

The former foreign secretary also shared the details of a cabinet meeting, which was called to discuss “Declassification of cipher telegram” and another meeting held in Banigala residence of the-then prime minister.

Sohail Mahmood said that in the cabinet meeting, dated 8th April, he had underlined that declassification of cipher telegram was neither possible nor advisable in view of the cipher security guidelines, the legal position and the foreign policy implications. He also told the cabinet that neither there was any past precedent of declassification of cipher nor there was any legal provision in this regard for the primary reason that disclosure of text could compromise the cipher communication system.

“I also added that it could affect the working of the missions and the ministry as the trust underlying confidential exchanges with foreign interlocutors could be undermined. It could also affect relations with the US and some other countries and strained relations with the US could also complicate matters with multilateral financial institutions.”

“After protracted deliberations, it was decided (by the cabinet) to have in-camera briefing in parliament on the authenticity and salient features of cipher telegram to be provided by the MOFA,” reads the statement as given before the trial court.

The ex-foreign secretary said, “On 27th March, 2022, there was a public gathering wherein former PM Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi waved a letter. On 28th March, 2022, I received an internal note from our Additional Secretary Americas informing that he had been contacted by US C.dA who had expressed her concerns about the public statement made by the then PM.”

He added, “While forwarding this note to the then foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, I advised that it would be prudent to remain engaged with the US and avoid public acrimony. Purpose of this advice was to protect the relations of Pakistan with important country and to avoid public and politicised discussion on a secret and privileged communication.”

“On 28th March, 2022 around midday I received a call to reach Banigala immediately for a meeting. It was not a prescheduled meeting and was called at a short notice. I was also not aware of its participants beforehand. I noticed that besides PM Imran Khan, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and SPM Azam Khan were also present,” Sohail Mahmood said, adding, “I was handed over a telegram which was earlier in the day given to the Foreign Minister’s Office at his request. I was asked to read it out. During the reading, other participants of the meeting commented on the conversation between the US Assistant Secretary and the Pakistani Ambassador in Washington. The meeting was short and it ended without any decision or conclusion.”

Regarding the cipher, he said a copy of the cipher was sent to the SPM (Secretary to PM Azam Khan) on 8th March 2022. He said that by the time he retired on 29th September 2022, the SPM’s copy of the cipher telegram was not received back in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He added, “At some stage in March, the SPM informally mentioned to me that the prime minister could not locate the copy of the cipher telegram in his papers and if another copy could be provided, he was informed that it was a numbered copy and should be located.”