Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath: NSC statement, PM’s speech don’t match, says Basit

ISLAMABAD: Former ambassador Abdul Basit said the National Security Committee (NSC) statement and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech lacked congruence.

Speaking in Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath, the former ambassador said the PM made a political speech, as he knows what is going to happen and is keeping in view the next elections.

He said, “We are talking about an official, not a country. Officials can err.” The narrative the PM is trying to build can spoil relations (with a country), Abdul Basit added. 

Speaking in the programme, former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar said on Thursday that in the wake of PM’s speeches, foreign diplomats would cautiously interact with their Pakistani counterparts, knowing that their prime minister can use diplomatic interaction for political purposes.

She said the government statements started from another country’s letter. “They said it’s a letter. Again it was said it’s internal (letter). Now we learn it’s a diplomatic cable sent by our ambassador about details of a meeting,” she added.

She said harsh language or expression of inability to work with a government is not unprecedented. In fact, she said, the use of diplomatic interaction, however harsh it may be, as political tool is unprecedented.

She said the diplomat who sent the cable to Pakistan’s foreign office also stands policised. She also rejected the way the European ambassadors’ issue was raised, adding no other government has tried to play politics on foreign policy (as this government).

She said that it is the no-confidence motion that is being discussed in the country for two month now, and foreign diplomats in Pakistan have been sending cables to their capitals daily on what is being said by politicians here.

She said once there was war theatre in Pakistan’s neighbourhood and they (foreign states) were involved in Afghanistan, so they had deep interest in Pakistan’s internal politics. However, she said, creating an impression that the entire world wants regime change in Pakistan is illusion.