Shehbaz has sent letter of congratulations to Trump: FO

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has sent a congratulatory letter to US President Donald Trump, Foreign Office spokesman told the media during the weekly briefing here on Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has also congratulated the new Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has urged the international community “to develop a concrete plan” for the reconstruction of Gaza in line with the UNSC resolutions.

Several queries were raised about the presence of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi at the inaugural events of President Donald Trump in Washington and whether he was representing Pakistan there and whether the Foreign Office had briefed him before his departure.

“The Government of Pakistan was officially represented by our ambassador as in the past oath-taking ceremonies. Minister for interior going to Washington has not been processed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I will refer you to the interior ministry spokesman,” said Shafqat while replying to a reporter.

To a specific query about an event that Naqvi attended, which was sponsored by a new entity, the Federal State of China, the spokesperson responded, “As far as Pakistan is concerned, it remains a core principle of our foreign policy to support One China. There’s One China, and this principle enjoys unwavering support of Pakistan.”

Pakistan says the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is a foundational agreement between Pakistan and India on water sharing and it remains fully committed to the treaty’s implementation, including its dispute settlement mechanism, hoping that India would also implement the treaty in good faith and in its entirety. A query in this regard was raised regarding a recent statement from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, in which the Neutral Expert had issued decisions on the Indian hydroelectric projects which India had termed a vindication of its stance.

The spokesperson responded that the matter needed to be put in the right perspective.

“The decision in question is a preliminary decision of the neutral expert upholding his competence to address the points of difference between Pakistan and India, concerning the Kishan-Ganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects. The neutral expert has determined that he will now move forward to hearing the merits of the case,” said the spokesperson.

He pointed out that in his decision, the neutral expert had also referred to the role and competence of the Court of Arbitration that had been constituted by the World Bank on Pakistan’s request to hear the above-mentioned water disputes and to address some wider questions on the implementation and interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty. “It is noteworthy that on 6th July 2023, the Court of Arbitration also upheld its competence to hear the same matter, vindicating Pakistan’s position,” added the spokesperson.

Queries were raised about the present position of Pakistan where on the one hand the new Trump administration has announced a rigid policy of foreigners entering the United States while the earlier US administration had given a commitment that it would take in Afghan nationals presently residing in Pakistan.

“We have an arrangement in place with the United States, by virtue of which it is committed to taking Afghans who are in Pakistan to US for resettlement by September 2025. The arrangements are in place. We have, so far officially, not received any further information on this issue (from the Trump administration),” explained the spokesperson.

Third country resettlement of these Afghans was also in process with other countries but Pakistan is now frustrated by the slow process. “At times, it appears to us to be excruciatingly slow. What we would want is it to accelerate and to move faster. This is what we emphasize. We are in touch with other friendly governments which want to take Afghans for resettlement to their countries. So, this is an ongoing discussion,” he said.

Pakistan says it is seized with the issue of the Joint Commission for prisoners with India and both the Foreign Office and the Embassy of Pakistan in Delhi are actively working on this.

“This issue is raised time and again and humanitarian issues are different from the political issues and these can be resolved preferentially which has always been our effort and desire. This whole issue is not in our control but we are ready to cooperate in every way,” he said.

As President Donald Trump walked out of the Paris Agreement, Pakistan says it remains committed to the agreement in face of climate change while remaining one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. “Pakistan recognizes the importance of Paris Agreement in addressing challenges posed by climate change, including in the context of COP 29 milestone agreement on mobilizing climate finance of $300 billion annually for climate action in developing countries. This support is necessary for vulnerable developing countries to advance their ambitious climate action through finance, technology, development and transfer & capacity building support. Pakistan has been and will continue to call on all members of international community to engage in a sustained multilateral cooperation under UNFCCC and Paris agreement to address the common threat posed by climate change,” he stated.