Army supportive of democracy: FO

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) has made it clear that the army is supportive of democracy, doing away with the speculation that a move may be on to weaken the government.

Islamabad also remains optimistic, hinting that when US Senator John McCain, head of the Armed Services Committee, visits Pakistan shortly, fresh negotiations seeking US funding for eight F-16 fighter jets can commence to help Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts.

“In diplomacy, we never say the doors are closed. US Senator John McCain will be visiting Pakistan soon to meet the top leadership. We had some issues with the US side about financial arrangements. The purpose of the sale (of F-16s) was to help Pakistan in its counter-terrorism efforts. Terrorism is not just Pakistan’s problem but a global issue, which requires a cooperative approach. The purpose was to enhance Pakistan’s precision strike capability,” the Foreign Office spokesman told a weekly media briefing on Thursday.

Initially, according to an agreement with the US, Islamabad was required to only pay around $270 million to get F-16s while the remaining $430 million was to be paid by the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) fund.

However, the US Congress took a U-turn and lawmakers insisted that the Obama administration would not be allowed to release this fund. Hence, Pakistan lost interest and said it would take its shopping list elsewhere.

“There have been a number of statements regarding alternatives. I have said earlier thatdon’t just look at Pakistan-US relations through the prism of this sale, the relationship is much broader. And, in diplomacy we never say doors are closed,” the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan says “enough is enough” and it simply cannot host Afghan refugees for a further period. A Tripartite Commission meeting by Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UNHCR on repatriation of Afghan refugees will be held on July 19, where the government will formally discuss this matter in detail with the Afghan Minister of MoRR and UNHCR.

The spokesman said that a high-level meeting co-chaired by Adviser on Foreign Affairs and Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions was held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday to deliberate upon the way forward and formulate the modalities for effective implementation of repatriation and management of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

“There are still about three million Afghans in Pakistan. Nearly half of them are registered as Afghan refugees. Pakistan would like these refugees to go back with honour and dignity. The government has extended the stay until December 31, 2016. We hope that the Afghan government and UNHCR will engage in serious dialogue for their early return. The prime minister has generously offered to provide whatever assistance is required for transferring and sustaining the camps to Afghanistan and their ultimate integration into the Afghan society”, he added.

Separately, Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron) Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch was more forthcoming when he said that Afghan refugees will have to leave Pakistan come what may. “Pakistan cannot host Afghan refugees anymore,” he said.

The Afghan government didn’t act upon the plan devised by Pakistan for repatriation of its citizens. “The KP government is right in saying that Afghan refugees are hurting the economy and culture of the province beside their involvement in crimes,” the minister added.

The spokesman said that after Thursday’s meeting it was decided to engage the government of Afghanistan and UNHCR immediately and devise concrete steps to ensure early sustained returns.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will approach the government of Afghanistan bilaterally on the political and diplomatic levels whereas the Ministry of Safron will engage UNHCR and Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) Afghanistan to pursue and devise modalities for implementation of early return as well as the possibility of shifting Afghan refugees gradually from Pakistan to safer and peaceful areas of Afghanistan where the Afghan government should establish settlements,” he explained.

The international community, which has shrugged off its responsibilities from supporting the refugees, was reminded in the meeting that it was obliged to support the government of Afghanistan in its endeavors for reintegration of the displaced population through robust development interventions, particularly in the potential areas of return.

“The donors must ensure that refugees and IDPs are an integral part of the overall Afghanistan’s National Development Strategies and Plans. It was emphasised that the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan through political and diplomatic channels must pursue these objectives with the donors. The upcoming conferences in New York and Brussels would provide the appropriate platforms to highlight the protracted Afghan refugees issue and the need for its resolution”, said the spokesman.

About India joining the MTCR, Pakistan says that it does not view the question of timing of its MTCR application to be linked to another country’s application.

He said Pakistan wants dialogue with India and doors for talks are always open. “MTCR is a voluntary regime and Pakistan voluntarily follows all guidelines of the MTCR regime. The decision to apply for membership of multilateral export control regimes is taken through consultations among all stakeholders. We will continue our engagement with the MTCR and consider appropriate timing for our MTCR application,” the spokesman explained.